Lonely Boy Knight
by Xardion
Summary: A world in crisis after an alien invasion, the only hope for the planet lies in a team of three battling against the attackers through use of their own powers. C13-Abandon. Please R
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: I own neither Neon Genesis Evangelion or Tekkaman Blade. I just find it so much fun to throw the two into the blender of fanfiction and mix them up.

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_**Lonely Boy Knight**_

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_The Future..._

_The Earth is under attack. An alien force known as the Radham has invaded the planet. Their plan; to add the Earth to their list of enslaved worlds. Leading these monstrous forces is a group of super-powerful armored warriors known as Tekkamen, being led by the warlord Tekkaman, Omega. With their power, the Earth was certain for conquest. But a single force stood in their way; a lone warrior who possessed the power of the Tekkamen, but who remained loyal to Earth._

_Tekkaman Blade..._

_Teaming with a small group called the Space Knights; Blade would fight against the alien forces and eventually destroy their warlord. But with victory came a price; Blade was never seen or heard from again. And worse yet, the war had not ended. Although repelled from the vicinity of the Earth, the presence of the Radham remained in the star. It would only be a matter of time before they came again, this time in force._

_But all is not lost. With the aid of their technology, humankind has a chance to fight back and ward off the invaders for good. Through a new organization called NERV, they will fight back with the very weapons they were attacked with._

_Tekkamen..._

_And so, around the world, young children with the potential were chosen to fight against these invaders and drive them away. These children, primary bodies, would be the only thing that stands between Earth and its destruction._

_And it is here that the story begins..._

* * *

-

_Tokyo-3 Municipal School_

-

"And that is how the Radham Invasion changed the economic status of the country. The resulting damage from the endless battles..."

From his seat in the middle of the class, young Shinji Ikari had his head rested on his arm as it was propped on the desk. The teacher's lecture had bored him and a good portion of the class at this point and to be perfectly honest, he couldn't concentrate anyway. Not with everything that had happened to him in the past couple of days. Being brought out to Tokyo-3, meeting his father the first time in years, and most importantly, the task that he was now assigned in the mysterious organization of NERV

_The Third Child..._

Sighing, Shinji lowered his head, causing an object that was wrapped around his neck to partly clatter on the table. Lifting his head up fully, he reached to the cord on the back of his neck and pulled, revealing a dark violet crystal that glittered in the light. But despite the beauty of the object, Shinji distinctly remembered the pain that came with it. And it wasn't the same gem that he had since he was a little child. That was a different gem. This one came with the full power and might of the alien invaders greatest weapon.

_A tekkaset crystal..._

And with that power, Shinji Ikari would be able to utilize that weapon in order to save the planet. A weapon system that gave an otherwise fragile and shy boy strength and power beyond that of anything the world had ever seen. For Shinji Ikari, Third Child of NERV...

...was Tekkaman 01.

* * *

_AN: I don't know what I'm thinking. I wanted to focus on another fanfic before I started on this, but I just couldn't help myself. Seeing as that is the case, I'll just have to bear through them like always. However, because of that, updates for this fanfic will be slow in coming, but don't worry. As I finish up my other work, update time will be reduced (at least, that's the plan. Just hope it works)_


	2. Tokyo 3

Disclaimer: See previous chapter

_-_

_(Back, one week ago...)_

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_'I'm not too early, am I?'_

Standing in front of the train station that dropped him off, Shinji Ikari looked around the scene. Tokyo-3 was big and from the looks of it, glamorous city. It also seemed to be one of the few places that supported a pillar of the Space Ring, which towered far above the sky and into space, although he couldn't see it that far. Even with a few places he saw under repair, it seemed like a wondrous place. However, the young man couldn't bring himself to enjoy it at the moment.

_'After all this time, why now father...?'_

His father, Gendo Ikari, a man who was his father, yet Shinji had never really known, had called for him to come to this city after years of abandonment. He didn't know much about him except for the fact that his father was a very important man, responsible for defending the Earth against the Radham invaders.

Sighing, Shinji pulled out a photograph, depicting a shameless picture of a lavender-haired woman leaning forward into the camera with a drawn arrow pointing to her bosom. Shinji felt himself sigh again, remembering that this is the woman that was supposed to pick him up. But she seemed to be nowhere in sight

_'Maybe I am early...'_

Just then, the screech of tires broke him out of his thoughts and a blue car slid right in to the sideway, parking perfectly. The door opened and a woman wearing dark shades stepped out, the very woman that was in the photograph. Removing her shade, she looked over the station a bit before spotting Shinji. With a smile, she waved at the young man who had already moved toward her.

"So you're Shinji Ikari, huh?"

In response, Shinji bowed his head. "Yes, Miss Katsuragi."

"No need to be so formal yet. Just call me Misato."

Shinji nodded and placed his belongings in the back seats before entering the car himself on the passengers' side. Misato re-entered her vehicle as well and gunned the engine, grinning at the young man.

"Welcome to Tokyo-3."

* * *

Chapter 1

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Tokyo-3

-

* * *

"So you haven't seen your father for ten years?"

The car carrying the pair raced down the streets of Tokyo-3, passing by more glamorous sights each time. Despite that though, the young man didn't seemed to care. After judging from what Misato had just learned regarding his father, she could see why.

"That's right. I wonder why he's called for me now."

"You mean you weren't told?" Misato asked, clearly surprised

"No."

Hearing this, Misato returned her attention to the road. _'So then...he doesn't know that...he's the Third Child. But why wasn't he told?'_ This didn't sound right to Misato. If they were to recruit someone to become a tekkaman, shouldn't they inform him first? But the order had come directly from the commander, so there had to be some reason. _A damn good reason_, she hoped.

"Your dad, he's a very important man." Misato said, veering off the earlier subject. "He is the commander in charge of NERV, an organization created for the purpose of warding off the Radham."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "So he's in the military?"

"No. We are separate from that, even though there are times when we work with them." she explained. "It's been that way for years."

"Is NERV like the Space Knights?"

The woman shrugged. "In some ways. In fact, your father was one of the original Space Knights. I'm not sure on the details, but I believe they disbanded and NERV was created to take its place."

"Oh."

The vehicle became silent once again and Misato sighed mentally. _'Kid must not be too keen on talking.'_ She glanced over at the boy again and her eyes soon caught sight of a thin wiry strand around his neck.

"Hey, what's that you've got there?"

"Hm? Oh, it nothing." Reaching up, Shinji pulled the strand up and revealed a small, but long pale-blue gem on the end. "Just my crystal."

"Wow. It's pretty."

"It's not..." the boy stammered. "...It's okay."

Misato smiled. "I'm serious. Don't see too many that shine like that."

Shinji's face lowered and he became silent once again, causing Misato to wonder if she had said something wrong. Maybe he resented the fact that he was a primary body. She had seen many people like that. From what she knew, the transformation wasn't a pleasant experience. Not only that, but primary bodies were seen by some as outcasts, different. It was stupid really, that view. Was it their fault that a Radham flower attacked and changed them?

"You know, most people would say thank you."

"...Thank you."

"You're welcome. Here we are."

At this, Shinji slowly looked up to see a large structure before him, colored in glassy blue and shining in the sunlight. As the car came in closer, Shinji's eyes gazed over the beautiful structure and for a moment, wonder began to show in them. But then, they settled back down as he though of who brought him here.

_'So this is where father works...'_

* * *

"Uh, Misato? Are you lost?"

"No, I'm not lost. I'm just...taking the scenic route, that's all."

Within the halls of NERV, Shinji looked up at his guide and saw the apparent loss on her face, despite her attempts to hide it. And he didn't need her to answer to know that she was lost. He actually recognized the corridor they were walking through as the same one they had come through five minutes ago.

"Misato!"

The two turned to see a blond-haired woman approach them, wearing a lab coat. Her green eyes were currently set to glaring at Misato, who sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"Oh, hey Ritsuko."

"I can't believe you got lost again." Ritsuko accused, clearly annoyed.

"Hey, give me a break."

Her glare didn't break away. "We're in an emergency situation and you want a break?"

This caused Misato to become serious. "An emergency...? What are you taking about?"

"We'll discuss it as we go." Ritsuko sighed. Her gaze soon turned to Shinji. "So this is the Third Child."

_'Third Child...?'_ "Shinji Ikari, miss." the boy bowed.

"Doctor." she corrected with a light smile. "Doctor Akagi. It's nice to meet you, Shinji."

The trio continued on, this time under Ritsuko's guidance, with Misato walking beside her and Shinji bringing up the rear. Shinji listened as the two women chatted away, learning that Ritsuko was the lead scientist of NERV. Soon enough, they reached an elevator and descended further. When it opened, Shinji found himself in what must have been a laboratory of some kind. Computers and other sorts of technology were all around the place. Turning around a corner, they soon entered into a bay-like area. At the far end, there was a glowing chamber of some kind. It looked almost plant-like in appearance.

"What is this place?" Shinji asked.

"This is one of the... wait a minute." Realization flashed in Misato's mind and she whirled over to face Ritsuko. "Ritsuko, are you serious?"

The scientist simply gazed at the chambers. "There is an invasion of Radham heading here as we speak. The military has held them at bay, but a good portion got through the blockade and is heading here, to Tokyo-3."

Misato froze in shock of the news, but it was quickly dispelled. "But still, he hasn't even been trained for this!"

"He doesn't need to learn that much." the scientists countered. "We already know that the tekka-system will act according to the situation. All he needs to do is fight."

The two women were suddenly interrupted by the voice of the now-panicked youth. "What's going on? What do you mean fight?"

"You are to fight the Radham."

The new voice boomed throughout the entire room, catching the attention of the three. Above them in a control booth were two men. One was an older man, standing with his hands behind his back. But the attention of everyone was on the man seated in front, his fingers crossed in front of him and wearing dark glasses.

_Gendo Ikari... Commander of NERV..._

"Father..."

"It's been awhile."

Slowly, Shinji began to glare. "Is that why you called me out here?"

"Correct." was the cold response.

"Why?" Shinji yelled. "After all this time...and that's all you wanted from me? You just want me to fight?"

Disregarding his son's outburst, Gendo simply questioned. "Will you fight the Radham or not?"

Shinji lowered his head, feeling his eyes beginning to fill with hot tears. "Why should I fight for you?" he sobbed. "I refuse."

"Very well." His attention switched over to Misato. "Major, prep Rei for combat."

"But sir, she hasn't fully recovered from..." Misato began to protest.

"She will fight. Get her ready."

Misato had no choice, but to follow orders. "...Yes, sir."

"After you've done that, escort the boy off the premises." Rising up, he began to walk out the booth in the back, but not before he finished.

"He has no use here."

* * *

After the confrontation with Commander Ikari, Misato and Shinji were walking back through the halls of NERV in the upper level. Neither of them said a word, for different reasons. For Misato, she was in thought as to the whole situation. The Radham attack here was probably the worse thing that could happen. Granted, at this point, many of the people of the city would be evacuated long before the Radham actually reached the city. And also, the Space Ring defenses should further reduce the forces. But still, sending out Rei in her condition...

It might as well be a suicide mission...

Her gaze lowered to Shinji. As much as she wished that he agreed to fight, she didn't blame him for his decision. He hadn't known about any of this and now suddenly he was asked to fight in a life-threatening battle? And the person asking him was none other that the father who abandoned him years again and even now, cares little to nothing for him.

"sigh..."

Meanwhile, Shinji's thought were simply on that moment when he faced his father for the first time in years. Even though he knew that his father couldn't have wanted him around for any good reason, a part of him held on to the hope that perhaps...he may have wanted to be with him...

"Could you wait here for a moment?"

Lifting his head up, Shinji saw that they were in another part of the complex. Seeing the sign, he learned that they were in the medical wing.

"...Sure."

Shinji moved back and took a seat on a nearby chair while Misato entered into one of the rooms. The boy sat quietly, with his head lowered and his thoughts depressing. _'So what happens to me now? I guess I have to go back...'_ His mind stopped there because the place he had lived before wasn't what he would call home. He was watched over by an old sensei that seemed to care nothing for Shinji. He simply made sure he was fed and clothed and that was it. In short, it was a dreary life.

_Pain..._

Shinji blinked as his thoughts seemed to pick up on something. Someone...was in pain... Lifting his head up, he began looking around. He was in the medical wing, so it shouldn't be surprising, but the fact that he sensed it was. This wasn't the first time he had experienced something like this either. As a primary body, he was able to sense the presence of other primary bodies as well. But he never felt something this strongly. Even as his moved about, the emblem of his crystal flickered upon his forehead. His attention soon centered in on the room that Misato had entered. Standing back up, Shinji slowly made his way over to the room and, beginning to recognize Misato's voice as he moved closer.

"...wants you to fight the Radham. But if you don't think..."

"Understood. I will get ready."

At that point, Shinji had made his way to the room and his eyes widened at the sight. Misato was standing by the end of the bed, talking to the occupant. A blue-haired girl that looked to be around Shinji's age. But more noticeable was her condition. The girl had bandages covering various parts of her body. Even half of her face was covered in bandages, with only one crimson eyes showing.

Currently, the girl was trying to get up, moaning painfully as she did. The pain flashed through Shinji's mind once again, almost as if he could...actually _feel_ it. _This was the girl that was going to fight?_ That just couldn't be. She could barely move and she was going to fight monsters like the Radham?

_'No...No...NO!'_

Her tekka-set flashing, the girl's head jerked up, catching sight of the young man standing in the doorway. Misato saw her gaze and turned to see Shinji standing there as well. She was surprised to see the faint outline of a tekka-set glowing on his forehead. _'But how? He's not even a full tekkaman.'_

"Shinji..."

Shinji's body seemed to be trembling somewhat, his eyes focused on the girl in the bed; the girl who will more than likely die if she partakes in this battle. And there was only one way that wouldn't happen. Fear swept through Shinji, but that didn't matter to him. _'I mustn't run away... I mustn't run away... I mustn't run away...'_

"I'll do it. I'll fight the Radham!


	3. Birth of Zero One

Disclaimer: See previous chapter

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_"Shinji..."_

_Shinji's body seemed to be trembling somewhat, his eyes focused on the girl in the bed; the girl who will more than likely die if she partakes in this battle. And there was only one way that wouldn't happen. Fear swept through Shinji, but that didn't matter to him. 'I mustn't run away... I mustn't run away... I mustn't run away...'_

_"I'll do it. I'll fight the Radham!_

* * *

Chapter 2

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Birth of Zero One

-

* * *

"Is everything ready?"

In the birthing chamber below NERV, everything was getting set up to install the process that would turn Shinji, now the official Third Child, into a full tekkaman. Already, the young man was settled inside the flower-like pod, dressed in a purple skin-tight suit with the label 01 on the shoulder. In the booth above, Ritsuko and Misato stood in watch as everything was set up.

"All systems green."

Ritsuko nodded. "Okay. Set the pod."

The technician nodded and began pressing buttons. Inside the pod itself, a yellow liquid filtered in and began to fill the pod. Seeing this, Shinji began to panic.

"Hey, what is this?"

"Don't worry." Ritsuko replied to the boy. "The liquid is oxygenated. Just relax and breathe."

The liquid soon filled the pod completely and despite Ritsuko's reassurance, Shinji couldn't help but hold his breath. That didn't last long and his tortured lungs soon forced breathe in the liquid. It took him a moment later to relax during which Misato's voice came over the comm.

"The process will take 30 minutes. Since the Radham won't be here for at least an hour, that'll give us time to get you prepared. So in the meantime, just relax. You'll be fine, okay?"

"...Okay."

At this, Ritsuko nodded to another technician next to her, who entered in the program that would begin the process. The liquid in the pod began to bubble, lifting Shinji and causing him to float in the middle of the pod. Then the liquid began to glow, becoming so bright that it seemed to look like energy, with Shinji's form being partially obscured by the glow.

Unknowingly, from a shadowy area in the back of the booth, Gendo Ikari also watched on...

* * *

In the skies above, the Space Ring defenses were being prepared for the arriving Radham force. Right now, the beam cannons were all being aligned toward the space sector were the alien force was to come in. With its firepower, the beams would be able to cut down the invaders just as they arrived. It wouldn't get rid of all of them, true. But it will keep the monsters away from the Ring itself and diminish its forces greatly.

But thing don't always go according to the plan...

From off the far side of the Space Ring, a black vortex materialized. It only lasted for a few minutes and then disappeared, but in its wake were dozens of Radham, all shrieking and screaming upon arrival. Immediately, the cannons of the Space Ring were diverted to fire on them, but they were only able to strike down a few of them while the majority of them descended upon Earth...

...where Tokyo-3 waited below...

* * *

"What's going on?"

Everyone in NERV was surprised when they heard the ringing of the alarms. From their seat, the crew went to work about determining the source of the emergency.

"The Radham have broken through the Space Ring defense and is descending upon Tokyo-3!"

Misato's face turned to shock. "What, now? But it's only been fifteen minutes. And how did they get through the Space Ring defenses so quickly?"

"I don't know, but they're descending fast." a technician answered. "Estimated time of arrival, 3 minutes and 39 seconds."

"Damn it." the lavender-haired woman snarled. "Shinji will never be done before that time."

The commander's voice cut through the others below. "Doctor. Accelerate the process."

"Commander?"

"Bring the energy level up to maximum."

Ritsuko's eyes widened. "But that will increase the stress on the Third Child dramatically, close to dangerous levels. We don't know how his body will handle it, if it can at all."

"Do it."

His reply left no room for discussion or further argument. Frowning inwardly, the scientist nodded to her aide, who began to increase the energy level of the pod. Shinji, who had been floating passively within before, soon began to groan.

"Guahhhh...!"

Ignoring his son's anguished cries, Gendo continued. "How long until completion?"

"Ten minutes sir."

"Ready the city's defense grid." Misato ordered. "That should buy us some time."

As her order was carried out, the major glanced at the young man, the one that was supposed to save them, writhing in pain and agony within the transformation pod.

_'Shinji... I'm sorry...'_

* * *

Around the city at various points, laser turrets began to rise out of the ground and rotate around, aiming upward into the sky. Beams of energy were soon unleashed, striking at the descending alien force. Scores of Radham were blasted, falling to the ground in pieces. However, too many of them made it past the laser barrage and attacked the cannons, crushing them.

"Enemy forces have descended on points 5, 6 and 9! The automated defenses have been destroyed!"

Entering the command bridge, Misato quickly took in the situation through the view screen before her. The Radham were quickly overwhelming various parts of the city. Their energy cannons were being shredded and the monsters were beginning to advance down the streets of the city.

"How's the evacuation going?"

"83% have cleared out of the city."

"Alright. That's a start." she breathed. "Redirect the remaining defenses. If we can get them to group together, then eliminating them will be easier. _'If we can eliminate them.'_ Moving to a nearby console, Misato got on line with the birthing chamber. "Ritsuko, how's it going down there?"

The return reply was strained. _-"We still need another five minutes."-_

"Major, we've lost points 7 and 8! Enemy forces are approaching the base."

Misato frowned. With the way the Radham were trampling through their defenses and the city, they may not last five minutes. _'Damn it. Now's not the time to think negative.'_ "Okay. The Radham will be heading here, so tell our troops to focus on getting the rest of the civilians out of the battle area. Ready the defenses here." She turned around and headed for the exit. "When they come here, I want to be ready."

"Major, where are you going?"

"To buy us some more time." was her reply before the doors closed.

* * *

"Brainwave pattern is beginning to spike!"

In the birthing lab below, Ritsuko and her team were facing an equally bad situation. The increased power to the pod was putting Shinji through severe pain. Even now, the Third Child was thrashing about in the energy liquid, practically screaming as the veins in his body glowed through his skin in crimson light.

"Keep him stabilized." Ritsuko ordered, watching the boy in front of her. _'Just a little more.'_ Ritsuko soon called to the command bridge. "Misato?"

Instead of Misato however, one of the lieutenant techs answered her. Puzzled, the lead scientist asked where Misato was. In such a situation, she should have been on the bridge. Where else could she be? The answer she received wasn't one she expected (although knowing Misato, she probably should have).

"She what?!"

* * *

"Launch!"

In one of the docking bays of the command center, a dull-blue machine shot out and skidded onto the ground. The machine was humanoid in form, armored and wielding a large rifle on one arm. Within the machine, Misato readied herself as the Radham soon began to approach. Taking aim, Misato fired a shot and blasted one of the Radham to pieces, with the explosion knocking over a few others.

_-"Misato, what do you think you are doing?"-_

"Not now, Rits." Misato replied as she took another shot, blasting the legs off the monster.

That did stop the scientist from continuing on. _-"Are you insane? You actually went out in that outdated machine?"-_

Outdated was probably an apt way to describe the Sol-Tekka she was piloting. Aside from being one of the first prototype models and therefore much older than the present models, the equipped power cells were limited. As a result, Misato would only have a few shots to go with.

"It's the only thing we have that can hold up against them short of sending Rei out." Misato shot back. "And we only need to hold them off until Shinji is ready, which you should be working on. How long?"

-"Another four and a half minutes."-

"Then I better get to work." With that, she took aim on the charging Radham once again. "Smile creep!"

* * *

"Stress levels exceeding normal levels. At this rate, he'll go into shock."

In the pod, Shinji's thrashing had turned violent, with his screams drowning out everything else. In the control booth above, Ritsuko kept her eyes on both the energy gauge and Shinji's vital signs, which were in the red zone of the instruments.

"Transformation completion in ten seconds. Five...four...three...two...one... Process complete!"

Just as it was announced, the pod flashed brightly, blinding everyone to the boy inside for a few seconds. Then the light and glow ceased and everything turned as it was before. Immediately, the pod was opened up and the oxygenated liquid poured out onto the floor. Medical crews rushed forward and pulled the young boy, who was unconscious, out of the pod and onto the cot. A moment later, Ritsuko herself was with the crew, checking over Shinji's vital signs and working to revive him.

"Shinji? Can you hear me?"

"...Nuah...Akagi-san..." he muttered painfully.

Once again, the commander's voice boomed out. "Take him to the launch bay and prepare for launch."

The crew paused for a moment, but Ritsuko didn't wait and began to push the cot toward the exit. As the others joined her and rolled him along toward the docking bay, Ritsuko focused on the tortured Child.

"Shinji. We need you to fight now."

"It hurt...so much..."

"Shinji, I need you to focus." Ritsuko tried again. "You have to tek-set and fight the Radham."

"...so much..."

* * *

"Gah!"

Back in the battle outside, Misato found herself quickly swamped by Radham. The laser cannons were keeping a few of them at bay, but enough were coming in to give Misato a major problem. So much in fact that she had to retreat several times to escape their charges. She didn't like give up ground, but she was left with little choice. Another one broke through her assault, stabbing at her and impaling the ground as she jumped back

"My turn." she retorted, taking aim on the attacking alien. But instead of a shot, there was only a click. "Oh crap. Not now."

At that point, the alien that had attacked her rushed at her again. Acting quickly, Misato rushed back, but the alien had managed to come in close enough to shove her back and into the ground. The woman groaned within the machine as she struggled to rise up, only to see a few other Radham coming in on her.

"Ah!"

* * *

In the medical ward, the First Child had been watching the battle through one of the windows. In case her aid was needed, she would be ready to move. As far as she was concerned, her order from the commander wasn't rescinded, so she would still fight. However, since their first option was being used, she would place herself on standby.

_'Major...'_

From the look of things, she would have to move soon enough. She had just watched Misato's fall at the Radham. It wouldn't be long before they smashed their way into NERV and brought it down. Rei would fight, but she knew her limited ability wouldn't be of much help. The only hope they had now rested with the young man that she had seen only once, but whom she had connected with. Even now, her tekkaset shimmered steadily through her bandages, transmitting the images she was seeing through her mind...

"Rei-san... Misato-san..."

The medical team had reached the launch bay when Ritsuko saw Shinji's tekka-set glow on his forehead. His face twisting in pain, Shinji moved to rise and managed to sit up on the cot. Ritsuko watched as Shinji slowly rotated around and placed his feet on the floor. As he touched down, a light shone from his chest. Reaching up to it, Shinji took hold of the source, his tekkaset crystal. No longer pale-colored, the gem was now glowed in a dark violet. As his grip tightened, the crystal transformed, becoming larger and spiking out. The glow brightened, causing Ritsuko and the others to step back.

Shinji seemed to be in a trance, between the glow of his tekkaset and the telepathic signal going through his mind. Through Rei, he was seeing the desperate battle occurring outside. The Radham were all swarming toward NERV and Misato was in serious danger. It was a terrifying sight to see and fear came in addition to the pain that the transformation had put upon the young man. But he couldn't help but think that he shouldn't run away, that he mustn't run away. And soon enough, a single word was whispered from his lips.

"Teksetta..."

* * *

In the raging battle outside, Misato was running away from the monsters that were just on her heels. Having abandoned the Sol-Tekka, Misato had to make her way back to NERV on foot and armed with only a laser gun, which would at best, annoy the rampaging aliens. Ahead of her, the cannons of NERV fired at her pursuers, but it would only be a matter of time before they broke through.

_**Narrhhh!**_

Misato glanced back to see one of the Radham trampling right at her. Still in run, Misato aimed back and let off a few shots of her gun. The beams caused the beast to stop briefly before it charged at her in a fit of rage. _'Great. Now I've hurt its feelings.'_ She turned partway again to fire, but her foot dropped in a misstep and she wound up falling to the ground. Her weapon slid away on the ground, but Misato was more concerned with escape than fighting. Unfortunately, the beast was now upon her, lifting up one of its pincer legs and striking down.

...only to hit empty ground

Misato was probably just as surprised as the Radham. One moment, she was scrambling to get back on her feet, the next; she was off her feet and soaring through the air. For a moment, she thought that one of the bean cannons had hit the monster and she was simply flying through the air as a result of the impact. But that wouldn't explain the armored arm that was around her waist. As the ground came back under her, Misato looked up at her rescuer and gasped.

"Shinji..."

But what she looked up at was not the boy she had met minutes before. Instead, it was a sleek armored warrior, decked in purple garbs with white armor underneath. His head was armor in the same fashion, with a single horn protruding from the middle. The young tekkaman was facing the Radham horde, which was now barreling at him.

"Guah!"

The tekkaman stepped back in panic and nearly tripped. But as he regained his bearings, panels on his shoulder armor suddenly swiveled to the side, revealing a set of energy cells beneath. The cells charged quickly and suddenly unleashed a massive wave of energy straight at the Radham. The rampaging monsters skidded to a halt, but that was all as the wave completely engulfed them, soaring on and up into the air where it disappeared altogether.

The cells soon ceased firing and the armor slid back to cover over them. Misato rose up and her eyes widened with surprise as she saw the damage Shinji's voltekka had caused. In addition to completely wiping out the Radham, the energy wave had also blasted through a couple of buildings in the city.

_'Wow... I haven't seen power like that since... since Tekkaman Blade.'_

Her gaze turned back to the tekkaman, still in amazement when he suddenly fell backward onto the ground. Surprised, Misato bent down to check on him, but only heard labored breathing. _'Of course.'_ The use of the voltekka had drained the boy completely, but the objective had been achieved. The Radham were gone, at least this time. All because of a boy who showed enough courage to fight them.

"Ikari Shinji... You are quite the young man."

From the command bridge, everyone was in equal shock as to the power of the newest tekkaman. But from behind, Gendo watched the scene passively, save for the light smirk that was on his lips.

'_And so…it begins.'_


	4. The Blue

Disclaimer: See previous chapters

-

_'Wow... I haven't seen power like that since... since Tekkaman Blade.'_

_Her gaze turned back to the tekkaman, still in amazement when he suddenly fell backward onto the ground. Surprised, Misato bent down to check on him, but only heard labored breathing. 'Of course.' The use of the voltekka had drained the boy completely, but the objective had been achieved. The Radham were gone, at least this time. All because of a boy who showed enough courage to fight them._

_"Ikari Shinji... You are quite the young man."_

* * *

_'So much...in only a couple of days...'_

Putting away his crystal, Shinji resumed his previous stance in class while the teacher droned on. But while he only looked bored, his mind was still on the events of the past couple of days. There was still a lot he had to adjust to. And not just arriving to Tokyo-3 and becoming a tekkaman.

That was just the start of it...

* * *

Chapter 3

-

The Blue

-

* * *

"Wakey, wakey, my hero."

Groggily, the young man eyes opened to see a white ceiling above. _'An unfamiliar ceiling...'_ he mused before he tilted his head to see Misato's face come into in view.

"M-Misato-san..."

"How are you feeling?"

"Really tired..." he replied, his eyes already beginning to shut again

"Well, get some rest." She brushed a hand across his brow "You've definitely earned it."

* * *

It took him a full day and a half to recover enough to leave the medical ward. During that time, he was visited by both Misato and Ritsuko. In Ritsuko's case, it was to check up on his physical status. Shinji had been brought in, transformed and thrown into battle all within a short period of time, and without any training to boot. The fact that he was able to defeat the Radham despite all of that was a miracle in itself. In any case, such stress could have serious effects on his body and she had to make sure he was okay.

Misato's visits were somewhat less professional. Aside from asking how he was and speaking with Ritsuko about the tests she ran on Shinji, Misato was also concerned about where Shinji would reside now that he would be living in Tokyo-3. It was briefly suggested that he could live with his father, but the boy's discomfort with that idea quickly shut it down. He seemed comfortable with living alone, but Misato wouldn't hear of it. That left her with one option

* * *

"Live with you?"

"Yeah. You did save my life, so I owe you one."

"Wait a minute...!"

Ignoring him altogether now, Misato picked up the phone and began calling in her decision, with Shinji trying to talk her out of it. However, in his weakened state, he could even try to put up a good argument and he got the feeling that even if he wasn't in bed, he wouldn't have been able to talk her out of it. And as a result, he became Misato's new roommate in her condo.

It was a disaster area....

Aside from finding clothes all over the place and the refrigerator filled with nothing but beer, Misato forgot to inform him of Pen-Pen. Her pet penguin gave him quite a scare when he had gone in to take a bath, only to find the warm-water penguin just emerging from a bath and waddling past him.

It didn't help that she saw him naked in the process...

But all things considered, it wasn't all that bad. He did get a room to himself and that was just fine by him. But there was still a lot he had to adjust to, namely being, his schedule. To start with, as a tekkaman of Nerv, he had to undertaking a regular exercise schedule as well as training. Luckily, the exercise part was already arranged for him in his new school. But he would always be on call should the Radham attack.

So into his thoughts, he almost didn't notice the bell ring, signaling the end of class. As students began to rise and scattered about the classroom, his eyes wandered over to the seat by the window, where Ayanami Rei had sat. A bandage was still over one of her eyes and a cast over her arm. He could sense her pain, telling him that she was still hurting from her injuries. This confused Shinji, that he was still able to sense her this way. As he thought this, she turned and gave him a single glance before turning away.

"Hey, is it true?"

Shinji's attention was snapped away when one of his classmates approached him, a girl. Behind her, another girl was also standing, peering over the shoulder of the first who had asked the question.

"Huh?"

"The rumor that you're that new tekkaman that showed up." she replied. "Is it true?"

"Well... I..."

Shinji was unsure as to what to say at the moment. True, Nerv hadn't said anything about needing to keep his abilities secret. But that didn't mean he should just blab it to everyone around. Not that he would anyway. Nervously, his hand reached to the back of his head, but upon doing so, the glitter of his crystal shone through his shirt.

"Look!" the girl in the back pointed. "There's his crystal. It is true!"

It didn't take long for every student nearby to crowd around him with various questions and comments to throw at him. But while Shinji tried to answer (or at least escape), one particular student stood in the back, with his eyes focused on Shinji.

_Angry eyes..._

* * *

**Pow!**

Blinking, Shinji looked up from the ground just outside the school, holding his cheek from the punch he had just received from the angry young man that was standing over him. He was tall, with short hair and wearing a black sports jacket and pants. Behind him, another young man with messy orange hair and glasses was moving behind him and holding him back from doing further damage.

"Get off of me! Dis jerk askin' for it!"

"Calm down. The class rep is watching."

The taller boy stopped and glanced back to see the said representative watching them, a glare beginning to form over her features. Looking down at Shinji, he gave a short snarl before stomping away, leaving the other boy and Shinji behind. Shinji lifted himself off the ground, holding his cheek, while looking toward the departing boy in puzzlement. It was at that point that the other boy turned his attention to him.

"Don't take it too personally. His little sister got hurt in that last battle."

Shinji blinked. "Oh?"

"Yeah. A blast of some kind; it wrecked one of the buildings... several of them actually. Anyway, she got caught in the falling debris." The shorter boy adjusted his glasses as he looked in the direction of his friend. "She's fine, but she's in the hospital. But as you can tell, Touji's quite ticked off about it."

Returning his gaze back, he held out his hand to the young tekkaman. "The name's Kensuke, by the way. Aida Kensuke." His eyes seemed to brighten when a still confused Shinji took his hand.

"So you're really that new tekkaman? That's so cool."

* * *

"Are you serious?"

"Afraid so. It was confirmed just five minutes ago."

The command crew of Nerv was looking over at the monitor display. On the display, several dots were seen in the far area, indicating a numerous Radham presence. In front, Misato stood in front with her arms folded and eyes focused on the screen. Ritsuko moved up beside her, her eyes also on the screen.

"And this group is coming here as well?"

The tech seated in front of her nodded. "Right. Trajectory shows that they're following the same course of the last group."

Misato scowled. "They're shadowing them. The first group was just testing our defenses." Her eyes lowered. "Speaking of which, what does our defense look like?"

"We've only been able to restore 45% of our cannon installments. However, the Space Ring defenses are ready."

"Not that it did much good last time." the lavender-haired woman grumbled. "They managed to portal their way around them."

Ritsuko shook her head. "I don't think so. With these numbers, creating a portal would be pointless, since only smaller units can make it through them."

Misato nodded. "Okay. If the Radham target is this HQ, then they'll want to avoid the Ring altogether. So that means they'll take an indirect route." She pointed to a section of the Earth. "Here. They'll descend toward the ocean and make their way here toward the bay."

"Assuming that is their path, it's still a wide area to work with."

"Nevertheless, it's our best option. How long before the Radham reach Earth?"

"Estimated time is two hours." was the answer. "After that, it'll be another fifteen to reach Tokyo-3 from point of descent."

The Operations Director nodded. "Okay. First, have all work crews focus repairs on the defense cannon near the shoreline. They'll make the best cover fire. And second, we'll need a transport."

Ritsuko blinked. "A transport? What are you planning, Misato?"

"This time, we're going to take the fight to them."

* * *

On the school rooftop, Shinji solemnly stared out onto the city. Due to the repairs, the city looked almost as good as new. It was as though a battle never took place here to begin with. But Shinji knew otherwise. The nightmares that had come to him were all too real for it to have not happened.

"Up on da' roof all by his lonesome... The picture of da' tragic hero!"

Blinking, Shinji turned around to see Toji standing with his arms folded and a glare on his face. Also, Kensuke was behind him once again, his face one of worry. Seeing him standing there, Shinji found that he didn't seem to care and answered in kind.

"You guys again. What do you want?"

"Moron!" Toji growled. "What makes ya think we'd want anythin' from you?!"

"You must be bored to check up on me for no reason." Shinji retorted lightly.

"I may not have a reason to be talkin' in you, but one thing's for sure! I hate yer guts!" He raised his fist to him. "Dat hot-crap attitude of yers. Dat mister innocent look on yer mug."

"So you just came by to pick a fight with me?" was the nonchalant reply. "Okay. If you don't like my attitude. I'll apologize. I'm also sorry for what happened to your sister. I truly am. But that's all. I can't afford to worry about how you'll feel every time I do something. I can't be bothered by total strangers... or a total flake."

Stunned by his words, Toji said nothing at first as Shinji began to move past him and toward the exit. But then he shook his head and yelled. "Hey! You can't walk away from me!"

Shinji stopped. "You want to punch me again? That's fine with me." The young tekkaman turned around to face him. "But this time, hit me like you mean it. Push me off the roof if you want to."

Again, Toji was stunned, as was Kensuke. _'What da hell is wrong with this guy? Didn't he care if he lived or died?'_ Toji suddenly felt rage come back into him, now because of Shinji's attitude more than anything at this point. His fists clenched, Toji advanced on Shinji.

"FINE!!!!! Remember, ya asked for it! Don't go cryin' ta nobody afterwards!"

"Not again!" Kensuke rushed to hold Toji back, to little avail. "Toji, he's a tekkaman. We can't afford him getting hurt."

Toji ignored him and continued to rant. "If ya wanna get pulverized, ya came to da right guy, Ikari!"

Shinji simply watched as Toji came closer, with Kensuke still trying to hold him back. Beatings were nothing new to Shinji. Being a primary body, there were times when he would get beaten by others simply because of the fact. Oddly enough, Shinji would allow such things to happen, despite having the strength to fight back. This would be no different.

It wasn't like anyone cared about him anyway...

"Ikari."

All three boys stopped and turned to see Rei standing there. Her crimson eye was solidly focused on Shinji as she spoke to him in a soft monotone.

"We just received an emergency call."

* * *

Minutes later, Shinji was walking down the halls of Nerv toward the hanger, with Rei walking beside him. Both teens were clad in skin-tight uniforms, with Shinji wearing purple and Rei's being white in color. Although her arm was no longer in a sling, her eye was still patched, and the injured arm hung limply (and painfully) at her side. Misato strode in front of them, leading them through the hanger doors where a large blue craft awaited them, aerodynamic in shape with its wings swept forward. A smile came over her face upon seeing the craft just before she turned toward the two Children.

"Alright. Here's the plan. A large Radham fleet will be descending on earth and heading here from the sea. The mission is to ambush them before they can reach the Tokyo-3." Her gaze centered in on the young man. "Shinji, you will be battling the Radham over sea. Once the Radham arrive, you'll drop off the Blue Earth here and engage them. They're in greater number than before, but you'll have backup fire from the shoreline cannon defenses."

"That's fine." he shrugged in return. "It doesn't matter anyway."

The comment caused her to blink, but she continued. "Anyway, you'll drop on them and take them out. Rei, you'll be his backup. In the event things get nasty, you will be sent out to engage them."

"Understood."

Briefing over, the three of them moved into the ship. The cockpit door opened and the three took their seat, with Misato being in front to pilot. Shinji sat beside her in the co-pilot seat and Rei was seated behind him. As Misato began to start up the machine, a voice came over the ship's communicator.

"Captain. Just where do you think you're going?"

_'It figures.'_ Misato sighed. "Where do you think, Ritsuko?"

"No." The reply came out as a near growl. "You're duty is to stay in command and give the orders, not fly out there..."

Misato's reply was sharp. "Ritsuko, until the starjets are finished, this is our best transport. And I'm the best qualified person to pilot it." She flipped a couple of switches, causing the Blue Earth to hum to life. "Besides, I can give orders more easily in the frontlines than from here anyway."

"And if something happens to you out there?" Ritsuko retorted. "With the commander and sub-commander away, who will be around to give the orders?"

The lavender-haired woman grinned. "Well there's always you. We all know how good you are at being bossy."

A growl came at the other end of the communicator, but no further argument was heard from the head scientist. Satisfied, Misato took hold of the controls and announced over the comm.

"Blue Earth, ready for launch!"

The hanger doors opened as the engines of the blue ship roared to life. The rear plates rose up from behind the ship and soon enough, the Blue Earth wheeled toward the exit. A moment later, the engines ignited full blast, rushing the ship out of the hanger and sending it rocketing into the air.

"Waaaaahhhhhhhoooooooooo!!!!" Misato cheered. "I love this ship!"

* * *

"No way."

Toji folded his arms and turned away from his friend. After the emergency alarm that signal the city of the incoming Radham attack, many of the inhabitants sought to evacuate the city. To those who couldn't, they were to seek safety in the shelters designed for such situations, which was where the students of the school were grouped together. Kensuke, however, wasn't interested in safety.

"Come on. This is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We have to!" He held up his digital camcorder. "It's our duty to have a record of the battle between mankind and the alien invaders!"

Toji sighed. He was more than aware of his friend's obsession with things relating to military and tekkamen, but he wasn't as inclined to share in it this time. "Then go ahead. I'm staying right here."

Kensuke gave him a shocked expression, but that soon faded away into thoughtfulness. "Hmm. Okay. But if that kid loses, it'll be your fault."

That got his attention. "Hey! Wha'da mean?"

"I mean, you did punch him after all." the otaku replied, as though he didn't care. "Can you imagine what that will do to his performance? He could very well lose and Tokyo-3 would be demolished, all because of what you did."

"Why...you...!" He figured that this was just a plow to get him to sneak out and go with him, but Toji simply couldn't help thinking about it, and soon enough, he relented.

"Fine..."

* * *

Streaking over the ocean blue, the Blue Earth soared higher into the sky. The color of the ship matched the pleasant sky, but all within knew that in a few moments, it would be anything but pleasant. Hoping to take away some of the tension, Misato turned cheerful toward her co-pilot.

"So Shinji, how are you feeling?"

The boy let out a bored sigh. "Alright I guess."

_'What's with this kid?'_ Misato wondered. He had been this way ever since he moved in with her. She wasn't that hard to live with, was she? He didn't seem to mind. But he didn't seem to mind anything. Even with the training he was given, he seemed to just accept it as though...

"What did you mean back at the hanger when you said 'it doesn't matter anyway'?"

"Well, as long as I can fight the Radham, it doesn't matter if I get hurt. At least not too badly."

"If you...?" Misato blinked in shock. "What are you talking about?"

Shinji's eyes remained forward, "That's the only reason I'm here, right? I mean, it's not like anyone actually wants me here."

"Shinji...!"

-"Captain. Enemy forces have descended toward the combat area. Looks like you were right."-

Misato frowned. _'Trust the Radham to have such lousy timing.'_ It looked like whatever she had to say to Shinji would have to wait until after the battle. "Roger that."

In the sky just under the Blue Earth, multiple black dots appeared in the sky. Sound of alien screams came forth soon after and the Radham soared down into clear view, making a beeline straight for Tokyo-3. On the shores of the city, the laser cannons moved into position, taking aim at the alien invaders. At the same time, the Blue Earth glided on right under them, also preparing for the assault.

"Ready Shinji?"

From the middle of the airlock, Shinji answered with a simple 'sure' as he reached up and took hold of the tekkaset around his neck. Misato felt a twinge of worry, but pushed it aside. Shinji knew what to do. His training may be brief, but it would be enough to get through this, especially considering how he did last time. Still...

"Be careful out there." Misato finished. Flying the ship toward the Radham, Misato placed her hand on the airlock opening and soon announced to the boy within.

"Tekkaman Zero One, engage!"

The violet crystal flashed to life as the airlock opened up and Shinji called upon the alien power for the battle.

_"Teksetta!"_


	5. Pains of Battle

Disclaimer: See previous chapters

-

_"Be careful out there." Misato finished. Flying the ship toward the Radham, Misato placed her hand on the airlock opening and soon announced to the boy with._

_"Tekkaman Zero One, engage!"_

_The violet crystal flashed to life as the airlock opened up and Shinji called upon the alien power for the battle._

_"Teksetta!"_

* * *

Chapter 4

-

Pains of Battle

-

* * *

On the shoreline of Tokyo-3, the line of energy cannons lined up and took aim toward the open waters, targeting the invading alien forces that were approaching the city. As soon as they were close enough, the cannons took fire, releasing a storm of energy fire across the waters. Radham were blown to pieces randomly all over the sky. However, the invading aliens continued on, flying lower to avoid the cannons. With the cannons unable to fire at them at such a low altitude, it was a simple enough matter for the Radham to close in, take out the cannons, and ravage the city.

Except the blue craft that flew right beside them had other ideas...

From the rear of the Blue Earth, a violet light streaked out and made its way toward them. Within it, the boy known as Shinji Ikari was undergoing a radical transformation. From the energy summoned forth from his tekkaset, Shinji's body became shrouded in white armor. Purple garbs soon materialized around the armor, flapping through the rushing air. When the crystal light shattered away, Shinji was no longer there; now replaced with a new form.

_Tekkaman Zero-One... Shogoki..._

-"Shinji! Attack them from the left."- Misato ordered from the Blue Earth. -"You should be able to cut straight through them from there."-

"Roger."

The boosters on his back flared to life and Shogoki soared straight into the Radham fleet. As he closed in, he reared his arm back and from his forearm armor plate, a light flashed forth. The flash was brief, but in its place and in Shogoki's hand, was a single blade lancer. It was shaped like a short spear, being serrated near and at its point.

_**Srrkkkkk!!!!**_

In a flash, Shogoki slashed through the first Radham, cutting it in half. Not stopping, the young tekkaman continued on, attacking the next one and decimating it in the same manner. In the Blue Earth, Misato continued to direct Shinji's assault. His training with them seemed to be working out so far. Shinji was able to attack the enemy Radham with little hesitation. Granted, he still had a lot to learn, as seen by his need to follow Misato's instructions, but he was pulling it off.

Just as long as nothing unexpected happened...

* * *

"Come on. We're gonna miss it!"

Touji shook his head as he followed his friend along. After the two boys managed to sneak out of the emergency shelter, Kensuke led them around the side of the beach shoreline. There they were able to get a good view of the battle taking place from around the defense cannons. Kensuke wasted no time in using his camcorder, recording every precious second of the fight.

"This is great, don't you think Touji!"

Touji only gave him a grunt, but even so, his eyes were glued to the battle. Although far away, he was able to see Tekkaman Shogoki in action, slashing through the Radham horde and carving them to pieces.

"Wha'd a showoff."

* * *

From within the Blue Earth, Misato continued to relay instructions to the young tekkaman. From her position, it was a bit tricky to guide him accurately, especially while she was piloting. But even still, this was far better than letting an inexperienced tekkaman fight alone. It was just a shame that the Blue Earth's laser cannons had yet to be installed; otherwise she could provide more backup support. But they would get that later.

Right now...

-"Shinji! Above and right!"-

Outside in the battle, Shogoki followed the orders of the Operations Director. His boosters flared as he soared upward and toward a swarm that was trying to break away from the main group. Lancer in hand, Shogoki slashed forward, slicing into the alien creature and causing it to tumble into another one. The young tekkaman pressed on, kicking down on the two monsters and striking down on the back of a third.

-"Three behind you!"-

Shogoki turned his head to see one of the creatures coming at him. Eyes glowing, the tekkaman hurled his lancer at the beast, sending it right through it. As the monster fell dead, Shogoki then stuck his hand out, letting out a thin energy-looking wire that grabbed hold of the still flying lancer and brought it back toward its owner. As it spiraled back, it racked across the faces of two others, felling them both. And soon enough, the lancer returned to the tekkaman's grip.

-"Okay Shinji. You're doing good. All that's left is to take out the central force."-

"Roger..."

"Wait a minute..." The sensors on the Blue Earth suddenly went up in alarm. "An energy surge! Shinji, look out!"

Outside, Shogoki heard the warning just in time as a crimson beam flew out from amid the Radham horde and toward him. A burst of his boosters pushed him out of the way of the beam and Shogoki looked up in search of the source. Misato also looked in search and half-gasped at what she saw, barely hearing Rei's whispered words which confirmed what she discovered.

"Another one..."

"Crap, a Radham tekkaman."

Indeed, coming toward Shogoki was an alien tekkaman. It was easily twice the size of the young tekkaman, garbed in black armor and with three large-claw fingers. Shogoki backed away upon seeing it; fear beginning to grip to the boy. A fear shared by the Blue Earth's pilot...

_'Oh, man. Shinji hasn't been trained for this...'_

While he may have been able to pull off a fight with the Radham, battling a tekkaman was a whole other story. Right now, Shinji had only enough training to where he can fight them successfully under her direction. But this would be a far different fight, as an alien tekkaman wouldn't fall as easily as the Radham.

-"Shinji! Get out of there!"-

But the tekkaman didn't move as the alien tekkaman closed in and brought forth a lancer of its own; a large bladed weapon with a wicked curve in it. Within the armor, Shinji was frozen stiff as the alien tekkaman struck out at him. Shogoki brought his lancer back to defend, but it was far too late and the weapon struck the young tekkaman, sending him flying toward the water. Luckily, the boosters kicked in and Shogoki stopped down just close to the surface of the waves. But that didn't stop the alien tekkaman from closing in of him once again.

-"Shinji!"-

This time, Shogoki paid heed to Misato's voice and began to fly away. But the Radham tekkaman wasn't letting his prey escape and unlatched a thick tendril that shot out of its arm and hooked around Shinji's leg. The boy gasped as the alien pulled him back and readied for a blow.

_Shwaakk!_

The clawed hand slapped Shogoki's head back and it seemed that he would fall into the water this time. But again, that didn't happen as the alien tekkaman pulled him back again and began to spin him around and around. Shinji couldn't help but scream as he was spun around and soon released, at high velocity and straight toward the shore...

* * *

"Whoa!"

Both Touji and Kensuke gasp as they witnessed the fight between tekkamen and Shogoki speeding straight toward the shore, sliding right through the sand and into the rocky area. Peering down, they saw Shogoki had crashed close to where they were stationed. The battered tekkaman was moving slowly and managed to shakily stand on his feet, using his lancer to help him up.

"Are you...alright?"

This came from Touji, who surprised both himself and Kensuke in that he asked about Shinji's welfare. Hearing him, Shogoki turned to look over at him, but his attention was snapped back when a red light shone down. In the sky, the alien tekkaman he had been fighting had charged up its voltekka and fired it.

-"Shinji! Get out of there now!"-

From her point, Misato had seen the alien tekkaman fire its weapon and immediately warned Shinji of the danger. There was no choice now but to have Shinji back away and regroup with Rei. It wasn't an optimal situation, but there was little choice. But she was completely shocked when, rather than retreat as ordered, Shogoki moved over to the side and directly into the beam's path.

-"Shinji!"-

**BOOOM!**

The resulting explosion sent dust and sand flying in various directions, causing the two bystanders to cover their faces from it and light. When it cleared, they looked up to see the alien tekkaman now flying in close to them. And worse of all, tekkaman Shogoki was on his knees in the sand. His armor was scorched and the purple garbs torn. Touji was especially shocked at seeing this.

"Wh...why didn't ya move?"

"Don't you see?" Kensuke replied. "If he did, _we_ would have been toast."

This caused Touji to blink hard. _'He took that shot...to save us?'_ He didn't understand it. Wasn't this the same guy that he had threatened to turn into a bloody mess with his fists? And now he was protecting them in a life-or-death battle, hurting himself in the process?

"Ikari..."

Meanwhile, the alien tekkaman continued to close in on Shogoki, who was shaking and had only managed to get up to one knee. Its lancer emerged once again and as it soared in; its weapon was pointed straight at the fallen tekkaman. The boys behind him saw this and Touji shouted.

"What'd ya doing?! Get outta here!"

The only reply started out as a low sound. At first, the two boys didn't know what to make of it. But as it grew louder, they soon realized both what it was and the source of it.

It was Shogoki... And he was screaming...

And it wasn't a scream of pain or hurt either. This was a full-on, blood-curdling war-cry. For a moment, Touji and Kensuke were more afraid of Shogoki than of the alien tekkaman. The boosters of the roaring tekkaman flared intensely and he shot into the air in a flash. Still roaring, Shogoki charged straight at alien tekkaman, his lancer posed in the same way as his opponent's. The two tekkamen soared right at each other and met with a violent clash of energy.

_Zhakakk!!_

For a moment, the two armored warriors seemed to be still in the air, amid the energy fire and the falling Radham. Then they both plummeted down, splashing straight into the water. Above the water, the Blue Earth glided in, with Misato's worried eyes searching the radar for any sign of Shinji.

"Shinji... Zero-One, respond."

For a long moment (at least for Misato), there was no reply. Back at Nerv HQ, everyone that had been watching the battle were holding their breaths, not uttering a word. Strangely enough, the one to break the silence was the normally quiet First Child.

"He is alive."

On the beach, the water broke apart as the battered, but victorious Tekkaman Shogoki emerged from the waves. As the Radham continued to fall from the cannon fire, he wearily strode out onto the beach, a partially bloodied lancer in hand. But that was soon dropped and the tekkaman followed, falling upon his hands and knees, with his head down. From nearby, Kensuke and Touji simply watched, unsure as to what to do and hearing light noises coming from the tekkaman. With the water dripping from his armored head, they couldn't help but wonder.

_'Is he...crying...?'_


	6. A Place to Belong

Disclaimer: See previous chapters

-

_On the beach, the water broke apart as the battered, but victorious Zero-One emerged from the waves. As the Radham continued to fall from the cannon fire, he wearily strode out onto the beach, a partially bloodied lancer in hand. But that was soon dropped and the tekkaman followed, falling upon his hands and knees, with his head down. From nearby, Kensuke and Touji simply watched, unsure as to what to do and hearing light noises coming from the tekkaman. With the water dripping from his armored head, they couldn't help but wonder._

_'Is he...crying...?'_

* * *

-

Chapter 5

-

A Place to Belong

-

* * *

"Why did you disregard my orders, Shinji?"

It was an hour later after the battle and the Radham had been successfully repelled. The city itself, suffered no damage whatsoever; a fact that many in Tokyo-3 were quite grateful for. However, grateful was not exactly on Misato's mind at the moment as she stood in a private office, her arms folded and face disappointed. In front of her, the Third Child sat on a bench, his eyes lowered as she went on with the lecture.

"I can overlook the fact that you took a shot that could have hurt those two boys, but you should have retreated when I told you to instead of attacking that thing head-on like that." Her frown deepened. "What would have happened if you hadn't been able to defeat that Radham tekkaman?"

"I'm sorry, Misato."

"Sorry isn't good enough!" she exploded. "I'm your operations supervisor! That means you should have followed my orders, understand?!"

"I...I know." he muttered. "I'm just your kid tekkaman. A weapon, right?"

Misato was taken aback by this. "What?!"

"Did you want us living together because it was easier to watch me?" He tilted his head slightly. "Not that I mind... but I thought that you actually cared about me."

"Wait a minute!"

"And in any case, I don't see the problem!" Shinji went on, ignoring Misato. "I won, didn't I?!"

_Smack!_

Having heard enough, Misato had stepped forward and smacked the young boy on the cheek. Shinji was stunned by the act, but he didn't seem to react any more than that. Glaring, Misato raved at the boy.

"How dare you? Just who do you think you are?!" When Shinji didn't respond, Misato turned away. "...That's all. Go home and get some rest."

"Yes, ma'am."

Silently, Shinji stood up and walked out the door, leaving Misato behind; both carrying sullen expressions on their faces.

* * *

_Two days later..._

"What?! Shinji's been missing since yesterday?!"

Misato lowered her head as Ritsuko shouted at her. The two of them were in Ritsuko's office in NERV when Misato informed the head scientist of her plight. Unfortunately for her, Ritsuko wasn't exactly supportive of her. _'Probably should have known better.'_

"I thought he was acting weird..." Misato replied sadly. "But to run away..."

"And you're supposed to be his guardian?" Ritsuko accused.

That didn't help the lavender-haired woman one bit and her face fell as a result. _'I shouldn't have slapped him.'_ Out loud... "Don't say that."

Ritsuko sighed. "Guess there's no choice but to report it."

"Wait!" Misato's head snapped up. "He could still..."

Ritsuko cut her off. "We can't take any chances if something happens to him." She then turned to gaze at her friend. "Unless you want to look for him yourself."

"I... "Once again, Misato's face fell."How could I?" Slowly, she moved over to the window and looked out at the vast city.

"I wouldn't even know where to start..."

* * *

_'What am I doing...?'_

In a lonely field just outside of Tokyo-3, Shinji slowly trudged on through the grass. The sun was setting behind him and the wind blew warm and light. But the boy took no note of these things and simply walked on.

_'No matter how far I walk, there's just no place for me to go. I'm just too insecure to be of any use to anyone. Even Dad and Misato...They only need me as a tekkaman, not a person.' _A sad sigh escaped his lips._ 'But... I already knew that. I just...'_

Stepping out into a clearing, Shinji's attention was soon caught by the sight of a small tent and campfire, with a line of meat roasting atop the flames. Upon seeing (and smelling) the food, his stomach rumbled immediately. _'Well... I haven't eaten anything since yesterday...'_ Shinji slowly moved toward the fire and bent down. He didn't want to be accused of stealing, but his head and his stomach were sending him mixed signals. However, before he could make a real decision, a click sounded behind him.

"Hold it right there!"

Shinji paled as he turned around to see a dark figure suddenly came up behind him. Due to the lack of sunlight, he couldn't see the figure's face, but he could make out what appeared to be a weapon in its grasp. A glint of light reflected from the shadow's face as he spoke.

"Planning to eat my dinner, were you?"

"Sorry!" Shinji said immediately, lifting his hand up in surrender. "I wasn't...!"

But at that point, the figure had managed to come into the light of the campfire, making his face visible to the apologizing young man.

"Hey, Ikari. I thought it was you."

Shinji blinked. "Uh, Aida, right? What are you doing in that get-up?"

"Oh this." Kensuke replied, tugging a bit at the military uniform he was wearing while lowering away the rifle he was holding. "Just playing war, I guess."

"Alone?"

"Yeah." He then adjusted his glasses. "But what are you doing out here, Ikari?"

As he asked, a grumbling noise came from Shinji's stomach, just loud enough for Kensuke to hear. Blinking for a moment, Kensuke then smiled.

"Want something to eat?"

"Th-Thank you."

A moment later, the two teens were seated in front of the fire, both eating the meat that was cooking as well as the other food Kensuke had on him. Kensuke found it particularly interesting to see Shinji eat, hesitantly at first, but that soon enough changed and Shinji began to quickly wolf down the food.

"Wow. Guess being hyper-metabolic will do that to you."

Shinji paused for a moment from his meal as he heard those words, half-embarrassed and half-surprised. Another consequence of being a tekkaman was that his body burned a lot of calories. Therefore, to replenish his energy, he would need to consume food more so than most. Thus the half of him that was surprised came from the fact that Kensuke knew that. But embarrassment began to take precedence and Shinji was ready to apologize for his behavior when Kensuke started up again.

"You know, Touji was worried about you when you didn't show up at school yesterday."

This time, it was a complete surprise. "Huh?"

Kensuke nodded. "You seemed pretty out of it after that battle. I'm glad you're doing better."

The battle... The images came back up in his mind of what had happened. Oddly enough, the most prominent images were not of the battle itself, but of his conversation with Misato afterward.

"You might have it pretty rough, but even still, I envy you." When Shinji looked up at him in surprise, Kensuke explained. "Whatever problems you have, I think its still cool being a tekkaman." His eyes lifted up to the stars above and his lip curled into a wistful smile "A lot of the time, I wish I could be one, just once."

Seeing Kensuke this way caused a soft smile to come over Shinji's lips and he replied. "I wish I could look at it that way."

"You don't?"

"I guess not."

"Ikari Shinji!"

The yelled came from behind them and the two turned to see a bunch of bright lights being turned in on them. Accompanying the lights were three men, each clothed in black-suits and dark sunglasses.

"H-Hey, who are you guys?!" Kensuke shouted, rising up.

"NERV public security and intelligence bureau." He then pointed past Kensuke and toward Shinji, who was still seated on the ground by the campfire.

"We're here to escort you back to HQ."

* * *

An hour later, Shinji was seated in a dimly lit cell within NERV HQ. His head was lowered as he awaited the arrival of Misato. It seemed that, in the end, all he could do was return. His wanderings had gotten him nowhere, and how could it. There was no place for him to go anyway.

_'I bet Misato's really mad.'_

Soon enough, the door of the cell opened and Misato stepped in. Her usual jacket was absent from her form as well as the carefree face Shinji had become used to seeing.

"Welcome back." she greeted, but without her usual cheer. "Feeling better, now that you've been gone for two days?"

"...Sorry."

Misato sighed for a moment before asking. "Let me ask you... Do you want to be a tekkaman or not?"

"It's not like I have a choice. It's who I am." Shinji replied. "Besides, I said already that it doesn't matter what I want. I'm the only one who can fight, right? Everyone would be in trouble if I didn't, right? It what everyone tells me to..."

Misato snapped. "Stop! I'm not interested it what everyone else wants? I want to know what _you_ want."

Eyes widening, Shinji looked up at her in surprise. That wasn't something he expected to hear. No one has ever really cared about what he wanted. He would normally go along with whatever people wanted of him. But that Misato insisted to know his desire; that was different. Shinji watched as the lavender-haired woman turned her head to the side as she continued.

"You're right. It is who you are now. For that, I am sorry." she apologized. It wasn't as if she could turn him back to his previous state as a primary body. And even if she could, it wouldn't change much. But that's beside the point. "But it's okay if you don't want to fight. You can go back to where you were before."

Surprise turned to shock on Shinji's face. She...wanted him...to leave...? To send him away...?

"It'll be for your own good." Misato continued. "As insecure as you are, you will only wind up dead. I rather not lose a tekkaman, but it'll be better for all of us." Misato moved over tot he side, pacing halfway. "Rei will just have to fight. She's recovered enough by now to be able to."

Shinji was still shocked by all of this. He wanted to say something...anything...but words simply could not leave his mouth. And as he was stuck there speechless, Misato began to return to the door, turning only her head to look at the young boy.

"Again, I'm sorry we dragged you into all of this. Just forget about us and go back to your old life." Opening the door, she turned away from him.

"Goodbye, Shinji."

"Misa... Misato..."

But Shinji only managed this after the door slammed close...

* * *

The next day, Shinji was standing in the train station, with two NERV agents (whom he had learned were named Section 2) at his side. He was currently waiting for his train ride back...back to where? The place he was at previously couldn't be his home. Sure his basic necessities were care for, but that was it. There was nothing there for him there. But it seemed that was the case for him here in Tokyo-3 as well. Since he had chosen not to fight, there was no reason to have him around here.

His father didn't want him there... Neither did Misato...

-

_Shinji gloomily walked toward the exit of NERV HQ. His hands were holding the bag he had brought with him to Tokyo-3, holding all his possessions (which weren't much). Absently, Shinji reached up to his chest, noting the missing presence of his crystal. Since he wasn't going to fight, it had been decided that his crystal remain in NERV for safe-keeping. Shinji really didn't care too much as to the reasons of why neither did argue the fact as he had handed it over. As he approached the doorway, he was greeted to the sight of a waiting Ritsuko who had been leaning on the wall with her arms folded._

_"Dr. Akagi..."_

_Unfolding her arms, Ritsuko stood in front of the boy. "I have a message from your father. He... appreciates your efforts on our behalf."_

_Shinji frowned inwardly. From the way she said it, it didn't sound all that convincing. But what did it matter? "Is that it?"_

_"That's it." She then moved over to the side to clear the way out. "Take care."_

_"Wait!" _

_Pausing in her tracks, Ritsuko looked back at Shinji, who seemed to be struggling with something to say._

_"I...uh... Misato... Is she...? She isn't..." He then managed to get out. "She's not even going to say goodbye?"_

_Ritsuko closed her eyes. "Sorry Shinji, but you're no longer a member of NERV anymore, so I can't tell you anything. Those are the rules." Continuing on her way, she stopped once more and turned to the saddened boy. _

_"Goodbye"_

-

The downcast boy simply stood in silence. So that was it. That was how his life was. He was an emotionally insecure boy, and as long as he was, people would not want to be around him. It was only when they needed him was he brought into others lives, and discarded once his purpose was served, if he didn't ruin it midway. That was what had happened here.

_But..._

"Well? Are you getting in?"

Blinking, Shinji hadn't even realized that the train had in fact arrived. As the doors opened before him, Shinji lowered his head. He was leaving Tokyo-3, to go back to... He began to step into the transport. It didn't matter. There wasn't a place for him here. There wasn't a place for him anywhere.

"Shinji!"

Shocked, Shinji paused to see Misato rushing up to him. She was breathing heavily, indicating that she had run there. Also of interest, Pen-Pen was cradled in her arms. As he was in wonder as to what to think of this, Misato turned her attention to the two agents.

"Sorry guys, but I'll take it from here."

Silently, the two agents walked away, leaving Shinji with Misato (and Pen-Pen). A moment of silence came over the two as Misato gazed at the young man, still working to catch her breath. Earlier the day she was just on her way to work when she was visited by two of Shinji's classmates, whom she recognized as the same two that Shinji had to protect in the last battle. When they had asked for Shinji's whereabouts, she had informed them that Shinji was no longer a part of NERV and therefore, was leaving town.

-

_"But, so suddenly?" Touji said in question. "Was he fired? For you know, disobeying orders?"_

_Misato shook her head. "No, that not what happened..."_

_"Then what? He got tired of being a tekkaman or something?"_

_"He has been acting weird lately." Kensuke threw in. "I mean, yesterday he was fine, but he wasn't himself during that battle."_

_Misato blinked and turned her gaze to the shorter boy. "Huh?"_

_"I mean, before, he acted like it wasn't so much of a big deal. But then he snapped during that fight, like he was deliberately disobeying you." His eyes lifted in thought behind his glasses. "I'm not sure how to put it..."_

_-"Your weapon... That's all I am to everyone..."-_

_"Oh Shinji..."_

_It was then that Misato realized what the true problem was and the error she may have made in it. Seeing that she had little time let, she quickly rushed back into the apartment, grabbed both her jacket and Pen-Pen and then rushed out of the door._

_"Hey wait!" Touji half-shouted as Misato ran past them. "What's going on?"_

_"I'm got to catch up to him!"_

-

She would be glad to know that it took her just under five minutes to race through traffic and run into the station, all with Pen-Pen in her arms. But right now, she just had to talk to him, to tell him...

"I forgot to tell you..." she started. Holding up her penguin slightly, she went on. "You see Pen-Pen here? When I found him, he was being used as an experiment where I used to work. They were going to put him to sleep once they were finished with him, but I got to him first. Do you know why?"

Shinji simply listened, not quite knowing where Misato was going with all of this, but hoping all the same. Lowering her pet, she went on to answer her own question to him.

"I felt sorry for him, true, but... I always lived alone." Her gaze became distant and a light smile crossed over her lips. "And I thought it would be nice to have someone waiting for me when I came home late at night sometimes...to have something like a family. I'm not someone who takes in a stranger just because I feel sorry for them or because it's my job..." Sadly, her eyes lowered. "I didn't mean to..."

"M-Misato..."

She looked up at him to see his head lowered, but there was no mistaking the tears that were flowing down his cheeks, or the choked reply he gave her.

"I...I don't want to back..."

Just outside of the station, Touji and Kensuke arrived in a taxi cab and jumped out of the car only to see the train beginning to roll away and depart the station.

"Oh man."

"We're too late."

But the two teen were in for a surprise, for as soon as the train cleared the station, they saw Misato holding Shinji in a tight embrace (at least as tight as it could be with a penguin in between them). Breaking away from the boy a bit, she looked down at his tear-stricken face and gave him a warm smile.

"Let's...Let's go back home, okay?"

"Home..." Shinji repeated and he slowly returned the smile.

"Sure..."


	7. Mystery Girl Ayanami

Disclaimer: See previous chapters

-

_"Let's...Let's go back home, okay?"_

_"Home..." Shinji repeated and he slowly returned the smile._

_"Sure..."_

* * *

-

Chapter 6

-

Mystery Girl Ayanami

-

* * *

"You know, come to think of it, that's the first time I've seen you smile."

It was the next day and Misato and Shinji were just coming into NERV HQ. Misato was recalling to Shinji of yesterday's events after the train station, in particular his reunion with his new friends, Touji in particular. The taller boy had said that he didn't want to owe people and for saving him, Touji would let Shinji get even with him by offering a free punch.

But Shinji had declined, replying that he rather have Touji owe him instead. This resulted in Touji shouting and hitting him on the forehead. But it was a light tap and it became clear to Misato that the two of them were now becoming friends.

Especially when she saw Shinji smiling throughout the ordeal...

"You're pretty cute." she grinned, bending down closer to him. "Cuter than you'd think anyway."

Shinji's face reddened a bit. "Stop teasing me, okay?"

Misato made ready to continue despite his protest when she saw his attention diverted forward. Looking up, she saw what caught his attention. Walking down from the other end of the hallway was none other than the First Child. Her pale form was no longer covered in bandages and both her crimson eyes revealed.

"Rei Ayanami."

Looking up at him, the albino girl said simply. "So, you didn't quit."

"Oh yeah. I came back."

Rei didn't react and walked on past him. "I could have fought the Radham alone if I had to."

Shinji just watched as she walked away and he asked his guardian. "Do you think she's mad at me?"

"Nah. She's like that with everyone." Offhandedly, she remarked. "Now Rei on the other hand... Nobody's ever seen her smile."

"Oh. Huh?"

He almost missed it, but then Shinji caught sight of Rei stopping halfway down the hallway in front of, of all people, Commander Ikari. But to Shinji's surprise, he saw the usually cold expression on his father's face soften in the presence of the First Child.

"Rei. How are you feeling?"

"Better, sir." she replied softly. "Don't worry."

Gendo nodded. "I see. That's good. You'll do well in the field."

"Yes, sir."

Shinji took in this scene all the while, baffled by his father's change in attitude in regard to Rei. But as the two parted directions, Gendo turned to see his watching son and his cold expression returned. Lowering his eyes, Shinji turned away and moved to catch up to Misato, all the while wondering about what he had seen.

_'Who are you, Ayanami Rei...?'_

* * *

"Shinjiiii..."

Later that day at the Katsuragi (now Katsuragi/Ikari) residence, Shinji looked up from the table to see Misato calling him as she exited her room. Shinji frowned at he state of dress, or rather, lack of it seeing as how she was wearing very little clothing that clung somewhat tightly to her form. Normally, this would cause the average guy to have a heart attack, but for Shinji, it seemed to have the opposite effect as this had become a common occurrence.

"You're still walking around like that, Misato?"

Misato returned the frown. "Hey, it's hot, okay? Anyway, take this." She hand him a plastic card with his photo on it. "It's your security card."

"Oh, thanks." Shinji said absently.

"Take this one too." Misato added, handing him a second card. Shinji blinked as he looked at it and saw the image of Rei Ayanami on it.

"It's Rei's new card. Ritsuko says she forgot to give it to her." she explained. "Sorry. But could you drop it off at her place tomorrow before you go to HQ?"

"Huh? Me?"

Misato blinked, wondering questioning about his reaction. A sly grin soon crept up her face and she bent closer to the boy. "Say, why are you all flustered?"

Shinji nearly jumped back at the accusation. "What?"

"You're blushing. Oh, wait a minute..." Her grin turned wicked and she turned away, looking at him from the side." Shinji, you little devil! You and Rei, huh? So that's why."

"T-That's not it at all!" Shinji exclaimed. "It's just that I don't know her very well! Stop teasing me!"

Much to his dismay, she didn't stop for a good hour...

* * *

The next day, Shinji made his way to the address where Rei was supposed to live at. As he traveled, his thoughts were once again on the mysterious First Child. Though he met her a couple of times, he barely knew anything about her. Even more so was the fact that she never really spoke to anyone as far as he could tell, aside from the Commander.

But it was Misato's note that she had never smiled had piqued his curiosity the most. Just the day before at school, he had attempted to see if he could bring out a reaction from her (at the expense of and much to Touji's embarrassment). But while the rest of the student laughed and exclaimed in various ways, Rei's face remained neutral until she ultimately turned away. Not so much as a sign of amusement, or even annoyance.

Nothing...

Dispelling his thoughts for the moment, he looked at the address where Rei was supposed to reside. But upon looking back up, he found that the building looked like a complete wreck. And the tale worsened when he entered the building. There wasn't any sign that it was even kept under maintenance.

_'Ayanami lives alone in a place like this?' _he wondered as he soon made his way to her apartment door, labeled 402. He pressed the buzzer, but it didn't sound. Seeing that it was broken, he knocked on the door. No response. Experimentally, he put his hand on the knob and turned and was surprised to find it was unlocked. As the door opened, he peered into the apartment.

"Um...Hello? Uh...it's Ikari." When there was no response, he slowly made his way inside. "Ayanami? Is anybody home?"

There was still no response as Shinji made his way into the main room, upon which he silently gasped at what he saw. Her living quarters was almost as messy as the outside. Remnants of meals and other filthy things littered around the place and bloodied bandages lay scattered across the dirty floor. And aside from the mess, the apartment itself seemed to be dull and dreary, with only a bed and a drawer.

On the drawer itself however, something caught his eye. Moving over, he spotted a pair of partly damaged glasses. This caused him to frown in thought, as he never remembered seeing Rei even wearing glasses. But that was until he saw an inscription on the side of them that read _'G. Ikari'_. Shinji let out another silent gasp.

_'They're Dad's...?'_

At that moment, his tekkaset flashed. It was brief, but enough to know of the presence that was behind him. He turned around, expecting to see the First Child and wondering why she didn't answer him when he entered. However, that and all other thought fled from his mind when he saw her state of dress, or rather, undress as she stared at him wearing a damp towel over her shoulders and...nothing else.

"Ahhhhhh!"

With a scream, Shinji dropped the glasses on the floor and covered his face. Apologies sputtered out of the boy's mouth as he kept his eyes covered, but Rei's attention was only on the glasses that he had dropped. Silently, she moved over and bent down to pick them up, all the while with Shinji still apologizing, his face flushed in deep crimson.

"I'm sorry! I didn't see anything!""

Shinji soon bolts for the door, face covered all the while. Because of this, he didn't see the rising Rei in front of him or the leg that was in his path. As a result, both Shinji and Rei tripped to the floor. Shinji managed to catch himself before he fell completely, but with his face uncovered, he saw just how he landed.

With Rei underneath and passively staring up at him...

It took a moment after their gazes locked for Shinji to quickly rush up off of her, looking away and holding his chest as though it might burst. This was far from what he expected when he was sent here and even further from what he could stand.

"I...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..."

Rei didn't seem to be disturbed at all by this encounter and calmly rose up from the floor. "What can I do for you?"

Blinking, Shinji turned his head to see her placing the fallen glasses into a case. However, as she was still naked, he turned back and tried to remember why he was there at all. "Uh...Uh...What was it again...the card! Your card. It's been renewed so Misato..." As he pulled out the card, he continued to ramble on, trying to apologize again. "She asked me to drop it off. I- I rang the doorbell, but it looks like its broken... Your door was unlo..."

"Leave the card over there."

Looking again, he saw her pointing to bed. She was dressing as she did, but that didn't help the young boy as he quickly placed the card on the edge of the bed and moved to the door, but not without muttering out one more apology.

"Sorry."

* * *

"Hey, you okay?"

Shinji blinked as Misato's voice broke through his thoughts. After arriving at NERV and running through his training, he met up with Misato who cheerfully said she had a surprise for him. The Blue Earth was to be installed with some long-needed laser cannons, and to do so, it would be transported up to the Space Ring, with Misato to oversee the operation. So she thought it would be a great idea to bring Shinji along with her. Except, the young tekkaman seemed to be spacing out while they were on the elevator up.

"Uh, yeah... Fine..."

Misato pouted. "Hmph. I went to all the trouble to surprise you with this little trip. What happened? Did you catch Rei in the buff or something when you went over to her apartment?"

"Misato..." the boy moaned miserably as his head lowered. It was fortunate that his back was to Misato, otherwise she would have seem the crimson blush forming on his face. It had taken him a bit to settle down after...that incident. Right after he exited the apartment, he had slumped on the wall just to breathe. Facing the Radham was hardly as horrifying as that moment was and nowhere near as embarrassing.

"Geez, kid, lighten up." Misato replied, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's not every day you get to see your home from space.

Lifting his head up at this, Shinji was soon entranced by the sight that came when the elevator window appeared, giving the two a spectacular view of Tokyo-3 from high above. For a while, Shinji forgot about all the problems and anxieties he had to deal with as he gazed down at the city. Moving beside him and seeing his awed expression, Misato smiled.

"That's it, Shinji. That is the city you helped save."

The elevator continued on its ascent into the Space Ring and the pair made their way to one of the docking bay to see the Blue Earth after it had been moved in. Workers went about in installing the laser cannons into the ship, with Misato feeling grateful that now her ship would be at least battle-capable. And with Rei now fully recovered, the odds were now looking up for them.

And then the alarms rang...

"Huh? What's that?" Shinji asked.

Turning to one of the technicians nearby, Misato echoed his question. "What's going on?"

It took the tech a moment to find out, at which he turned to her in alarm. "A Radham attack, ma'am!"

"Wha- Now?!"

Shock and disbelief flashed on the lavender-haired captain's face. She hadn't heard anything from NERV HQ about any presence of the Radham anywhere close to Earth. If that had been the case, she would have had the installation done in the HQ. But their sensors had picked no such activity.

"They just came out of nowhere and are already getting past the defense point."

Things just went from bad to worse. "I don't believe this. Are the installments to the Blue Earth complete?"

"Not yet." the technician answered. "Crews need another couple of minutes to finish up."

Misato scowled. From the upper windows of the Space Ring, she could see the cannons firing on the assaulting Radham. With the Blue Earth out of commission, she couldn't engage them in battle. And even if it was, Shinji's safety took priority now. She didn't like, but she had to get him out of there and back to the Earth.

"Shinji, we have to go."

"Oh!" Shinji gasped. "Ah... Okay..."

Taking his hand, the two made their way to the elevators. Crowds of people were already swarming toward them in order to evacuate, resulting in a large crowd to get through to. Misato kept hold of Shinji's hand, trying to get through the crowd when a heavy rumble caught her attention. This was shortly followed by an explosion far off and a change in the atmosphere that knocked them off their feet. Before Misato could wonder what had happened, a loud alien shriek answered her.

"What? No way!"

Looking up and gazing down the corridor, she looked in horror to see that one of the Radham monsters had broken through the wall from a nearby hanger. Turning its grotesque head toward them, the creature let out another shriek and charged at them. From around, people scattered in terror, seeking to get away from the charging beast. Misato too, looked for a place to escape with Shinji when the said boy rose up from the ground and faced the creature. His face was full of fear, yet Misato could just make out the words he was whispering.

"I mustn't run away... I mustn't run away..."

Before Misato could say a word (of protest or otherwise), Shinji pulled out his tekkaset crystal and called forth its power. A flash of light and a blast of energy transformed Shinji, turning him into the tekkaman Shogoki once more.

"Shinji!"

But Shogoki said nothing in return as his boosters flared and he rushed at the Radham monster. The monster roared and charged in return, but Shogoki reached it first, colliding with it and shoving it back into the hanger bay where it had come from. The beast rolled backward after the tekkaman released it and roared in anger as it began to rise. In return, Shogoki brought forth his lancer and charged again, stabbing the creature. But as it gargled in death, the creature reflexively kicked out, sending Shogoki back and toward the wall of the bay.

At least, there should have been a wall...

Within his armor, Shinji's eyes opened to find that he had be propelled out into open space. The opening that the Radham had crashed through was the one that Shogoki had been knocked through, putting the boy out in open space. Panic immediately came over the young tekkaman and his boosters fired as a result, propelling him wildly and further through space. Fighting his panic, Shogoki slowly began to regain control of his bearings, slowing down in his spiral. When he finally straightened himself out, he used his boosters to place him on the top of the Space Ring. But as soon as he touched down on it, his tekkaset flared a warning.

"Shinji! Look out!"

Misato's voice over the communicator, plus the warning his tekkaset gave him caused him to search around for the source. But he managed only a glimpse of what he was being warned about before a crimson wave of energy swarmed out from the battlefield, blasting the structure beneath Shogoki's feet and launching him backward and toward Earth. Misato watched in horror as the young tekkaman plummeted toward the planet, with gravity pulling him in all the way.

"SHINJI!!!!!"


	8. Reason to Fight

Disclaimer: See initial chapter

* * *

_"Shinji! Look out!"_

_Misato's voice over the communicator, plus the warning his tekkaset gave him caused him to search around for the source. But he managed only a glimpse of what he was being warned about before a crimson wave of energy swarmed out from the battlefield, blasting the structure beneath Shogoki's feet and launching him backward and toward Earth. Misato watched in horror as the young tekkaman plummeted toward the planet, with gravity pulling him in all the way._

_"SHINJI!"_

* * *

Chapter 7

A Reason To Fight

* * *

_'Where...am I? It's so dark, I can't see anything.'_

_Amid the darkness, the Shinji felt himself body float about. Soon enough, from what seemed like a distance at first, three figures appeared within. It didn't take long for Shinji to realize what he was seeing. A memory... His memory..._

_-"Shinji."-_

_-"Hi, Shin-chan."-_

_Shinji looked us as he saw a younger version of himself standing before an older couple. 'Auntie... and Uncle.' He continued to watch as the pair smiled at him and took him to their home, telling him that they even made him a room in the garden. The little boy smiled and told them that he would study hard. Shinji felt his eyes lowering, knowing what would happen next._

_The boys..._

_On his way home in a rainy day, he encountered a group of boys a year older than him. He was about to pass them when one of them saw his tekkaset crystal. Realizing that he was a primary body, the boys attacked him. The beating was brief, for it was just then that a police officer had come by. As the bullies fled, the officer found Shinji left alone. But aside from helping, the officer believed that he had started the fight and took him down to the station. Once there, the police asked for the name of his guardian, to which Shinji naturally replied the name of his father._

_However, it was his aunt who would come to pick him up and was upset that Shinji would go around picking fights. The boy kept his head down on the way home, putting the crystal underneath his shirt. He was upset that everyone believed that he was the instigator simply because he was a primary body. But oddly enough, he was also upset that his dad didn't, or rather, wouldn't pick him up._

_I wonder if Mom would have picked me up..._

"Mom..."

The darkness and the memory faded quickly, being replaced with a white ceiling. But this ceiling was quite familiar for a change. He was in the NERV medical ward...again. _'Wha...?'_ But before the question could be thought, his eyes caught sight of the figure seated beside the bed and widened with surprise as a result.

"Ayanami?"

The azure-haired girl looked at him and then lowered her eyes to a tray of food that was in her lap. Lifting it and moving it over to his lap, she then spoke.

"Here's some food. They said to get you to eat something once you woke up."

Shinji lowered his eyes. "I don't feel like eating anything."

"I think you should eat something before we go. We leave in 60 minutes."

Shinji's eyes widened as she said that, but she didn't seem to notice as she pulled out a small notepad and flipped it open. "Here is the schedule for the operation tomorrow. Shall I read it?" When Shinji didn't answer, she continued. "Tekkamen Shogoki and Zerogoki will assemble at the transport station and await transport at 1730 hours. Transport to arrive in 1735 hours to take us to the secondary base on Mt. Futago, which will arrive there at 1800 hours. Await further orders. Closing the pad, she finished. "Operation to commence at midnight."

"I have to fight again...after what I just went through?"

Memories of the fight and what had happened came to mind. As if fighting the Radham wasn't horrifying enough, to think that he fell from the Space Ring. It's a miracle that he was even still alive. And now he had to just get up and go again so suddenly...

"If you don't want to, why not just run away again? I can fight alone if I have to."

Shinji felt himself frown as he looked up at her, noting the tekkaset that was shimmering on her forehead and guessing she was seeing the same on his. But even without it, Rei could see his resolve in his eyes. He will fight.

"Well then, I'll see you in 60 minutes." Rising up from her seat, she made her way to the exit. Pausing at the door, she then added. "Make sure you eat something."

* * *

"Okay, here's the plan..."

It was late in the evening as Shinji and Rei, now dress in their skin-tight uniforms, assembled before Misato, with Ritsuko just behind her. The group was now in the mountain base at Mt. Futago and the pair of tekkaman had just arrived when Misato began the debriefing. From the looks of it, both women had seen better days. Misato especially was stressed. After Shinji had fallen from the Space Ring and hit the earth, she had been in distress. Even after she heard that he had survived, it wasn't without injury. Shinji had been unconscious for a day and a half while his body recovered.

And now she was putting him in right back into battle...

Unfortunately, she had little choice and no options in this. After Shinji's fall, the military had arrived and managed to drive away the Radham, at least somewhat. Their forces had been repelled to the Martian facility, but according to recent reports, an additional force of Radham had arrived and now the military was forced to withdraw, with the Radham returning to Earth. With little time and resources, Misato opted with the only thing she could.

_Shinji..._

The plan was to wait until the Radham invaded (which wasn't much of a choice). Shinji would be stationed on the mountainside, while Rei would draw the enemy toward him. With the Radham clustered together, a blast from his voltekka would wipe out much of the enemy forces. But the problem was that the Radham were coming in two waves and Shinji could only use his voltekka only once per transformation.

And that was where things became risky...

Shinji would revert back to his normal form and 'recharge'. Ritsuko informed them that it would take at least three to four minutes for Shinji's body to recover enough strength for him to transform back and use his voltekka again. During this time, Rei would be in Shinji's defense, keeping them away from him until he was ready to fire again. If all went according to plan, Shinji will be able to transform again and eliminate the remaining Radham. And any stragglers left over would be easily taken care of by Rei.

If all went according to plan...

* * *

After the debriefing, the two young teens were left alone in the hanger bay of the base in wait. The sky was open for them to gaze out to, but neither seemed interested and their heads were lowered. For Shinji, he was in thought of what had happened in the prior fight, when he was thrown off the Space Ring. He had lost consciousness mid-way, but he remembered the fear quite well.

But upon looking over at his teammate, he saw no sign of fear or worry on her face. It was just as neutral as it had always been. Calm. It was strange to him that she would be so calm, as she seemed to have the more dangerous part of the mission. The urge to speak to her welled up in him and soon enough, he turned to her and asked

"You aren't scared, are you Ayanami?"

The girl turned to him, crimson eyes penetrating. "Of what?"

"You've been put through so much already." he replied. "Why do you fight?"

Rei became silent for a minute and turned away to look forward. Shinji began to believe that she wouldn't answer him, but then she did. "Because...it is my link."

"To my dad...?"

"I have nothing else" was the quiet response. "It's like I was born to fight the Radham. If I stopped, I would have nothing left. That's the same as being dead."

"The same as being dead?" Shinji took this in thought as his gaze turned forward. "Well, then... I guess I was like that before I came here."

Rei looked over at him once again, but he didn't seem to notice and went on speaking. "I hated everything. I was totally apathetic... I just didn't care. But I put up a quiet front, playing the good little kid. I... I guess maybe I was just going through the motions of living."

As he spoke, his thoughts were in confusion as to why he was even telling her this. Was it because they were alike, in the same situation? _'No'_, he realized. Her situation was worse. He wasn't sure, but it felt like...it felt like she had less than he did. Perhaps that was why he was telling her. A beeping soon sounded in the bay, along with the flashing of green light. Upon seeing it, Rei immediately turn about and began moving toward the doors.

"It's time. Let's go."

"Hm? Oh, sure."

Shinji followed her to the bay doors where they saw dark objects forming and multiplying in the sky. They both knew what they were long before their shrieks reached their ears. The swarm of Radham were flying through the night sky, but not toward them. But that would change soon enough. Looking down at the tekkaset crystal, he began to feel his fears return to him.

"Ikari."

Blinking, he looked up and at Rei. "What?"

"You won't die. I'll protect you."

The eyes of the boy widened at her quiet declaration, somehow knowing that she meant every word of it. As the mass of Radham came into view, her hand lifted up, revealing her crystal; deep and sky-blue in color. The crystal began to glow and Shinji backed away as he realized that Rei had summoned its power. But just as the energy engulfed her, the albino said one more thing.

"Goodbye."

Shinji gasped, but was unable to respond as Rei took off into the air in a aura of light and energy. As she soared, her armor came into form and was fully revealed once the light around her ceased. Her armor was lithe in form and dark blue in color, cloaked with garbs that were the same color, but light in shade and with white markings on it. A single crimson eye glowed as she made her way toward the Radham, not as Rei Ayanami, but the first tekkaman created by NERV.

Tekkaman Zerogoki...

Boosters igniting, Zerogoki made her way right into the heart of the Radham force. Since they moving off in a different direction, it was easy for Rei to strike at them without their notice. Her lancer, a long thin blade, sliced through the air and alien without a sound, aside from the shriek of pain from the Radham as it was rendered in two. This naturally alerted the other Radham, but by the time they realized that they were being attacked by a tekkaman, Zerogoki had already slain five of them.

From the mountainside, Shinji watched Zerogoki in stunned amazement. It was almost impossible to believe that this was the same girl that was badly injured some days ago. Even after she had recovered, she seemed so frail. But such thoughts were now countered by the abilities he had just witness of her as a tekkaman.

"Shinji!" Misato's voice came over the speakers of the bay. "Get ready!"

"Roger." Shinji replied, bringing his tekkaset forth...

* * *

Within the battle, the Radham, now realizing that they were being attacked, roared and turn in to attack the lone tekkaman. Zerogoki practically danced around one of the Radham's pincers and the jetted back toward the mountain, making sure she was flying just fast enough to keep them away from her, but not fast enough to lose sight of her. A glow of light ahead of her caught her attention, signaling Shinji's transformation and she looked back. The Radham were now in a frenzy to attack her, grouped together just as Misato had planned.

Her tekkaset flashed and Zerogoki dove downward. A moment after she did, a wave of energy flashed from the mountainside and into the Radham horde. The aliens were completely engulfed by the voltekka blast as it swarmed through them and into the sky. With only a sparse few remaining, Zerogoki ceased in her descent and reversed course, her lancer ready to finish off the rest.

_'To the mission...'_

On the mountainside, the armor plates of Shogoki's voltekka shut close and the tekkaman bent down in exhaustion. His armor flickered and shone and soon the light peeled away to show the boy underneath. Shinji remained bent on the ground, taking in shallow breaths. Even though he hadn't been in the battle, the use of the voltekka still drained a good deal of strength. And also, he was still recovering from his fall from the Space Ring, which only added to his fatigue.

"Shinji..."

Shinji looked to his side to see Misato come up beside him. Bending down, Misato handed him a power bar and Shinji quietly ate it. As he ate, Misato looked up at the sky and the battle. Just as she had planned, the remaining Radham were just about finished off thanks to Zerogoki. But she knew this was only half the battle and the second wave was soon to come. She just hoped that Rei would be up to the task. There was no mistaking her combat ability; that was for sure. The way she fought, attacking and striking with silent, but deadly accuracy.

It seemed to match the girl's personality...

But even still, she would still be outnumbered. Even as she thought that, more black figures appeared in the sky. The second wave... Looking down at Shinji, she saw the boy had only half-finished the bar she gave him. Not that it would matter. His body still needed another three minutes to recover enough to transform. This was the part of the plan she was most worried about. Not only was Shinji both powerless and defenseless at the moment, but Zerogoki would have to deal with the Radham on her own until Shinji was ready.

_'Please hold out, Rei.'_

* * *

Hovering in the air, Zerogoki waited calmly for the second wave of the Radham to come. So far, everything was going according to plan. She simply had to wait out for Shogoki to attack again. The mass of Radham soon came into clear view, but unlike last time, they were aware of her presence and heading straight for her. Zerogoki remained where she was, unmoving in the air. When they came in close enough, however, the female tekkaman burst into action.

In a sliver of light, her lancer flashed though the first Radham she came across. A second came at the side, but Zerogoki dodged the pincer by flipping over the monster. Once overhead, the tekkaman dove back at it and stabbed down, impaling the monster down through the back. And the creature fell away, a third came at her in attack. But rather than defend or move to counter, Zerogoki retreated, jetting back and around, but not too far from the invaders. She had to keep them occupied and in place for Shinji.

_'To the mission...'_

However, instead of rushing at her like before, the Radham stopped in place, seemingly in wait. For a moment, Zerogoki was confused by this behavior. But then her tekkaset flashed and her attention was was directed toward a group of Radham that had parted. Coming from their midst was a single, larger form. And judging from the appearance, it was humanoid in form. But Zerogoki already knew what it was.

_A Radham tekkaman..._

Zerogoki was barely ready when the alien tekkaman charged at her, bringing out a lancer of its own. She managed to block it, but the brute force of the Radham pushed her back. Spinning about, Zerogoki recovered and readied herself as the alien tekkaman came at her. But rather than waiting, Zerogoki charged and made a slicing attack at the enemy. Despite its size, the tekkaman was quite agile, hopping back to aviod Zerogoki's attack and following up with an attack with its clawed hand. Zerogoki dodged, but didn't see the kick that followed and was smacked aside hard, falling away toward the ground.

_'Rei!'_

On the mountainside, Shinji had seen the blow Zerogoki had taken Misato was watching as well, with dispair beginning to form on her face. Facing the Radham alone was bad enough, but to add a tekkaman in it worsened things considerably. Not only that, the base they was at had few weapons, none of which would be effective in holding out the wave of Radham alone, much less their tekkaman. And with Zerogoki disabled, that only left Shinji, who was still a minute away from the needed transformation.

But it got worse...

The alien tekkaman, having heard Shinji's mental cry, turned about in search for the source. Stopping the bunker base and the two standing in front of it. With a growl, the red cells on the tekkaman began to glow. Misato looked in horror as a crimson voltekka was unleashed upon the two of them. But suddenly, Zerogoki swooped in front of the beam and stopped in between it and the two on the ground. Charging her own voltekka cells, Zerogoki fired, disrupting the Radham's attack beam. However, she was too close to the blast herself and was caught in resulting explosion.

"Rei! No!"

As the scorched body of Zerogoki fell again, Shinji leaped up into the air, not even aware that he had just tekset and flew into the fading light of the energy clash. His lancer formed in his grasp as he charged. The light cleared enough for him to see the alien tekkaman, but it didn't matter as he was right in his face now. With a roar, Shogoki ran his lancer through the Radham tekkaman and held it in place.

"Shinji! Your voltekka!"

Hearing Misato's call, Shogoki immediately opened his voltekka cells and fired. The alien tekkaman was engulfed in the point-blank beam and the attack continued on toward the Radham behind it, vaporizing them. Shogoki then turned to the beam to the side, spreading his attack out to the rest of the Radham. With the aliens grouped up as before and with Shogoki tactic, there wasn't a single one that wasn't caught when the voltekka finally ceased.

_'Rei!'_

With a burst of his boosters, Shogoki shot down to the earth in search for his fallen comrade. Tracking her through her tekkaset, it didn't take long to find her. She had crashed into the earth and lay there unmoving. Shogoki flew over to her and landed beside her. Reverting back to his normal form and bending down, he held up the head of the female tekkaman.

"Rei! Can you hear me? Rei, say something…"

A moment of silence passed and then came a weakened reply. "Ikari...?"

"Ayanami!" he smiled. "I-I'm glad...you're alive. Real glad."

"Why are you...crying again?"

Shinji blinked, not realizing that there were tears trailing down his eyes, a few of which had tricked onto Zerogoki's armor. The tekkaman tilted her head in observance.

"You were crying yesterday... in your sleep. Why are you so sad?"

"Tch! That's not it!" Shinji exclaimed, shaking his head vehemently. "I'm crying because I'm happy you're alive."

"Because you're happy?" Her voice held a trace of confusion. "So you cry when you're happy too."

Suddenly feeling a little embarrassed, Shinji began to sputter an apology. But Zerogoki continued speaking, her voice a low whisper now.

"...I'm not sure... what expression I should make...at a time like this. Even though I should be happy."

Shinji blinked, but then gave a small smile. "Well, not that I could see it, but...if you're happy, you should smile."

The armored head turned away to look forward again. Shinji sighed mentally. Even without her armor, he guessed that she probably wouldn't have reacted anyway. But still, it was nice to at least try. He didn't understand it, but he felt a connection to the mysterious girl, and it wasn't just the fact that they were both tekkamen. Maybe it was their similar situations. He wasn't sure. Setting her down briefly, he stood up and held down his hand

"Can you stand?"

Giving him a silent glance, Zerogoki began to lift her hand to his, but stopped when she reached halfway and looked over her armored hand. Shinji blinked again and Zerogoki began to glow. Her armor soon turned to light and energy and disappeared to reveal the girl beneath.

"Let's go."

Lending up her hand fully, Rei took a hold of Shinji's hand. Shinji helped her up from the floor and to her feet. But when she stood up, he was stunned by the sight he witnessed when he turned to look back at Rei.

_She...was smiling..._

It wasn't anything great or exaggerated; just an upturning of her lips. But Shinji couldn't help but notice how her face seemed to be lit up by that smile. It lasted a moment though and Rei returned to her usual demeanor, albeit a little confused. It was only until later that Shinji realized that he had been staring. Turning away to hide the light blush on his face, Shinji began moving up toward the base. It didn't take long to hear Misato voice calling for them and her form coming down toward them with a group of others with her. As they moved toward her, Shinji spoke to Rei.

"Ayanami...You shouldn't say goodbye when you leave on a mission. It's too sad." His expression began to shift to thoughtfulness. "We might have anything besides fighting the Radham right now, but...well...as long as we stay alive, someday, we'll be glad that we survived."

Rei turned to look at him before looking forward again to consider his words. Her eyes gazed up to the sky, taking in the sight of the full moon above them. Her tekkaset shone suddenly and she found herself sensing his thoughts.

_'It might be far in the future, but until then, let's live on. Even on a black and empty street, if we go together, we might one day find something like the moon that floats in the darkness.'_


	9. Fiery Persona: Asuka Sohryu

Disclaimer: See initial chapter

_"Why do you fight?"_

_Rei became silent for a minute and turned away to look forward. Shinji began to believe that she wouldn't answer him, but then she did. "Because...it is my link."_

_"To my dad...?"_

_"I have nothing else" was the quiet response. "It's like I was born to fight the Radham. If I stopped, I would have nothing left. That's the same as being dead."_

* * *

Chapter 8

Fiery Persona; Asuka Sohryu

* * *

"I think this is going to be a good day, don't you Shin-chan?"

It has been a week past since the last battle with the Radham. Misato and Shinji were once again aboard the elevator of the Space Ring to retrieve the Blue Earth. But in addition to that, they were to pick up something, or better yet, someone, who was of greater importance to NERV.

The Second Child.

"I mean, I get my ship back and we get a new tekkaman.." Misato went on while Shinji stood beside her. "It's about time we had a break."

"Do you know what the Second Child is like, Misato?" Shinji asked. Personally, after what happened to him before, Shinji had been (greatly) hesitant in going to the Space Ring again. But Misato insisted that he'd come, replying that there would be times that he would be required to fight in space, so it would be better to deal with it now instead of later. So to get his mind off of the fact that he had fallen of the said Ring, Shinji inquired about their new soon-to-be co-worker.

"She's very bright, with quite a personality." Misato answered. "Graduated from a German university college at fourteen."

Shinji's gasped. _'No way!'_ Out loud. "What? A university?"

"Yep. And rumor has it that she seen her share of combat and managed to take down an entire Radham force single-handedly."

Shinji mouth fell open. _An entire force...on her own?_ Even Shinji couldn't do that, at least not without any help. Not only was this new tekkaman powerful, but having graduated from a college university indicated that she was quite smart as well. It didn't take Shinji long to start to feel seriously outclassed. Noticing his awe-stricken expression, Misato gave a slight smile and added slyly.

"And she quite a looker too."

That, of course, caused Shinji's face to snap back and down, hiding the blush that threatened to come over his face at the mental image. "Oh...uh..."

Misato snickered and prepared to tease the boy more when the elevator finally made it to the top. Exiting, the pair walked through the corridors toward the docking bay. As they did, Misato thought back to an idea she had prior to coming. She had wanted Rei to accompany them as well, believing it would be good if all three of the Children were to meet at the same time (Or in the very least, get some more material to tease Shinji with). But instead, she had learned that Rei would be unavailable as she was needed for testing. Misato wasn't told what the testing was however.

_'Go figure...'_

Meanwhile, Shinji looked about as people went about their normal activities. There didn't seem to be any sign of nervousness or anxiety on their faces at all, just the general behavior. It was as though the attack that had occurred just a few days ago hadn't happened.

But it did happen...

Reaching the area they were to go to and showing their clearance, Misato asked if the Second Child was in. The guard in charge informed her that she was currently in practice, to which Misato had Shinji wait while she dealt a few other assignments. After she left, Shinji, immediately become bored, moved over to one of the window panels. It still unnerved him, being up in space and looking down at the Earth.

_How could he get used to this?_

A flash of light caught his attention and his gaze shifted and widened. On the underside of the Ring, a red form swooped about on the Ring. Surrounding it were several orbs, all firing at it, but not hitting her at all. It didn't take much for Shinji to figure out what or rather whom he was looking at.

_The Second Child... Tekkaman Niigoki... _

Long red hair flowed about from the figure's head as she moved about. Or danced about. That was what it appeared to Shinji anyway. A flicker of light shone in her hand and in a single moment, two of the orbs were slashed in half and the red tekkaman was wielding a long twisted rapier-like lancer in her hand. The three remaining orb all came at her simultaneously and soon enough met the same end as the previous ones

Once again, Shinji's insecurity kicked in. There was no way he could even compare to her. The way she moved was without flaw. Graceful and elegant. It was quite similar to the way Rei moved about, without any doubt as to what she was doing. Furthermore, she showed absolutely no worry about fighting or even being out in space. She just stood there staring at the Earth with her hair flowing about in the zero-g.

Her head turned slightly and in a flash, she was gone. Shinji however, remained by the window a little longer, his sullen feelings keeping him there for a bit. So much so that he failed to notice the feminine form entering in from the side exit, a frown on her face upon seeing her.

"What are you doing here? Civilians are not allowed back here."

Started, Shinji turned about and froze as he saw who was speaking to him. The girl looked about the same age as him, with golden red hair and cerulean eyes. She was wearing an equally red skintight uniform with the number 02 label on it.

"You're... the Second Child."

"Yeah." She scowled. "What about it?"

"I'm..."

But the girl cut him off almost immediately. "Whatever. Look, I don't know how you got here, but you better leave now. Only military and NERV personnel are allowed."

Shinji choked, not quite gaining his ability to speak properly yet. "Wait a minute..."

"What are you deaf?" the redhead now snarled. "Get lost!"

This evidently, provoked a response from Shinji for as she yelled, his tekkaset flashed on his forehead. At that same moment, her own tekkaset shone from hers as well, causing her to gasp in surprise and reel back.

"Who are...?"

"A bit quick, aren't you Shinji?"

It was at that moment that Misato decided to return, her teasing remark not missed by the Third Child, but at the moment, he was too stunned to care. The girl however, turned to Misato, her expression still one of surprise and then back to Shinji.

"Shinji?" she stammered. "As in, Shinji Ikari, the Third Child?"

Misato found herself scratching the back of her head. "Guess introductions are in order." Standing in between the, she lent out a hand toward the girl. "Shinji, this is Second Child, Asuka Sohryu." Then her hand motioned over to Shinji. "Asuka, this is Third Child, Shinji Ikari."

"Yeah." Shinji said meekly. "Hi."

From behind, a technician came up to Misato and said something to the woman. Nodding, the captain began to walk back toward the exit, only to stop briefly to look at the two.

"I'll be right back, so you guys get acquainted, okay?"

Shinji wanted to protest, but Misato was already long gone, leaving him with the Second Child, a girl who had displayed such marvelous abilities as a tekkaman. The same girl who, right now, was looking him over with a look of displeasure.

"So you're the Third Child? Not much to look at."

"Huh?" Once again, Shinji found himself stunned by the girl, but not in the impressed way as when he first saw her in space, neither was it the surprise of seeing what she really looked like. This was in regards to her attitude, which was clearly a negative.

"What's NERV thinking, recruiting an untrained boy to be a tekkaman?" She went on, peering at him with her hands on her hips as though he was a little kid to her. "Is Tokyo-3 desperate or something?"

Sadly enough, Shinji just couldn't retort to her taunts. "Uh...well..."

"Great." she exclaimed to herself. "Not only am I fighting the Radham, but now I have to baby-sit too."

At this point, Shinji was about to shout back when a loud scream echoed from beyond the exit. Shinji immediately recognized the owner of the scream.

_'Misato?' _

* * *

_NERV HQ_

As large as the pyramid building was, it wasn't hard to believe that there were areas hidden within it. Add to the fact that there were facilities underground and it it was simply a reasonable conclusion. Even more so since these hidden areas were purposely designed. In one of these areas, two figures stood around the middle of a chamber. Illumination was scanty, with the majority of light coming from a pod in center of the room, with only a single object stationed within it.

A girl...

Ayanami Rei floated within the pod, naked, with her arms crossed in front of her nude form. Her eyes were closed as if asleep, but in fact she was quite awake. One of the figures outside the pod -female- stepped closer to the pod. After a brief examination, she turned to the other figure, who nodded and stepped forward as well. Upon this figures' approach, Rei's eyes slowly opened to look at him, her tekkaset shining upon her forehead.

"I can feel them." she spoke quietly. "They are coming."

"Excellent."

* * *

"...can't believe you're here!"

"Well, I am Asuka's guardian after all. Are you really so surprised?"

Shinji and Asuka both made their way from the area they were in toward the docking area where the Blue Earth was stationed. Beneath the sapphire ship was Misato and a man, dressed casually with a ponytail on the back of his head. His face was unshaven, but the grin he was giving the captain was clear to see. The same could not be said for Misato, who was a good two feet away from him with a look of horror and anger on her face.

"Kaji!"

Surprised again, Shinji watched as the redhead quickly ran past him and toward the elder man, smiling all the while as she clasped onto the man's side.

"Hey, Asuka. Done with training already?"

"Yep." she smiled brightly.

The man's gaze lifted and he saw Shinji stand in the backdrop. "And I take it this is the famous Shinji Ikari. Hello."

"Famous?"

"Quite." Kaji replied. "The young tekkaman who fought an entire Radham force and practically saved Tokyo-3, all without any prior training."

"Oh...well... it wasn't..." Shinji stammered, not quite expecting praise given the abilities Asuka had shown who at the moment was glaring daggers at him. "I was just lucky, that's all."

Kaji shrugged. "Maybe. But luck is a part of ability. The fact remains that you did save Tokyo-3. A couple of times if I'm correct."

Shinji began to look up at the man in wonder. From the way he said it, it was as though Shinji had really done something amazing. That he was some kind of hero or something.

_-"That's it, Shinji. That is the city you helped save."-_

Mentally, Shinji shook his head. He wasn't a hero. He had just fumbled his way through that first fight and managed to wreck a part of the city in the process. And as for the other battles, he barely made it through in one piece and he didn't do it alone.

"Well, actually, Misato and Ayanami helped me through those."

"Ah. That's reminds me of another thing. I've heard you've moved in with Katsuragi, right?" When Shinji nodded. "Tell me, does she still sleep sprawled over the bed?

Both Misato and Asuka gasped in shock as Kaji asked that question. Misato more so, adding a glare that promised violence if the man went on further.

"Hey!"

"Yes, actually." Shinji answered, furthering the shock of Asuka and especially Misato. "She sleeps late so I always have to wake her up."

"Now wait a minute!"

It was at that point that another one of the technicians came up from behind the group. Misato almost bit the technicians head off, but calmed herself enough when she saw the serious look on the technician's face.

"Excuse me, Captain. We have a transmission for you from NERV HQ."

* * *

"Is this some kind of sick joke?"

Ritsuko's head shook on the transmission display screen. "I'm afraid not. A Radham force has been detected between the lunar space and Earth. Your mission is to intercept them before they reach Earth."

Stepping back, Misato placed a palm on her forehead. "Just when I thought today would be a good day..."

"Actually, it's not that bad. For one thing, there's no risk of damage to anything." Ritsuko explained. "And another, you have both the Blue Earth equipped for battle as well as Asuka with you. The Radham force is sizable, but its nothing that hasn't been dealt with before. If anything, the odds are more in your favor."

"That's my Ritsuko for you. Always for the odds."

The doctor eyes lifted to see Kaji in the back. "Nice to see you too, Kaji. Still giving Misato a hard time I see."

Kaji merely grinned in response, which caused Misato to let out a low growl under her breath. _'I jinxed myself. I know it. First Kaji and now the Radham. And this really seemed like it was going to be a good day.'_ Despite this though, what Ritsuko said did ring true to her. There was no last-minute immediate danger like the previous fight, neither was the battle to take place in the city or even on Earth for that matter. And now they now had Asuka to fight with them as well.

"In any case, we're on our way."

The transmission cut of and Misato turned to face the two Children who were standing behind her. "Okay guys, you heard the mission, so you know what we have to do." Her gaze settled on Asuka. "Asuka, since you're already familiar with space combat, you'll take point." She then looked over at Shinji. "Shinji, you will back her up."

"Okay." Shinji replied quietly.

"Wunderbar." Asuka grinned. "Now I can get to really show my stuff."

Misato continued. "I'll be supporting you from the Blue Earth, but for the most part, it's going to be up to the two of you. We leave in fifteen minutes so get yourselves ready."

"Roger." the two said in unison

* * *

Moments later, the Blue Earth jetted from the Space Ring and out into open space. Misato could feel the smile threatening to come over her face. She had always like diving or flying vehicles and she especially love flying the Blue Earth. The only reason she didn't have a full smile on her face was because of the presence of her co-pilot.

_'He just had to have authorization, didn't he?'_

In the seat beside her, Kaji sat perfectly relaxed and though she wasn't looking, she knew there was a grin on his face. Behind the two, Asuka and Shinji sat in wait. With a grimace, Shinji looked down at his suit. _Correction, Asuka's suit…_ Since Shinji's suit had been left behind at NERV and no one had bothered to place any spare ones aboard the Blue Eath, it was decided that Shinji borrow one of Asuka spare suits. Needless to say, young man was less than enthused about it.

For that matter, neither was Asuka...

"Stop your groaning. You think I like you wearing one of my suits?"

"She's right, Shinji." Misato added in. "You should consider yourself lucky."

Lowering his head, the boy moaned. "I don't feel lucky."

The pilot/captain gave a thoughtful hum. "Well, if you don't mind us seeing you naked, that's fine too."

"Misato!"

"Eww! That disgusting!" Asuka shrieked. Pointing at Shinji, she shouted. "Figures you'd be a pervert too!"

"Hey, I didn't...! I..."

It was at that moment that the beeping of the alarm sounded, silencing everyone and turning their full attention to the front. In the black of space, multiple forms could be seen dotted across the expanse. Just as NERV had detected, a wave of Radham were making a b-line straight toward Earth. Misato veered the Blue Earth toward the swarm and called back to the Children.

"Okay you two. Remember the plan, okay you two. And be careful out there."

"Roger."

With that, the two teens made their way to the back and into the airlock. As the door closed behind them, Asuka lifted her palm up and called forth her crystal. As Shinji looked, he wasn't surprised by the color of it; a glittering ruby. The crystal itself was with six points, with the top two being the shortest and the bottom two the longest.

"Just don't get in my way, Third." Asuka quickly snapped at him.

_"Airlock depressurizing."_ Misato announced over the intercom. This caused Shinji to blink in attention and summon his own crystal. As the light in the chamber went out, a new source of illumination came, in the glow of their crystals that soon engulfed the two Children.

_"Tekkaman Niigoki! Tekkaman Shogoki! Engage!"_

_"Teksetta!"_

* * *

AN: Sorry about mistakes I've made in the previous chapters in regards to Misato's rank. I'm so used to writing her as a Major instead of a Captain. But just to clarify, she is a Captain now. She'll become a Major later on. So just ignore the previous mistakes, at least until I correct them.


	10. Pride of a Knight

Disclaimer: See initial chapter

* * *

_"Just don't get in my way, Third." Asuka quickly snapped at him._

_"Airlock depressurizing." Misato announced over the intercom. This caused Shinji to blink in attention and summon his own crystal. As the light in the chamber went out, a new source of illumination came, in the glow of their crystals that soon engulfed the two Children._

_"Tekkaman Niigoki! Tekkaman Shogoki! Engage!"_

_"Teksetta!"_

* * *

Chapter 9

Pride of a Knight

* * *

In the depths of space, the Blue Earth soared toward the invading Radham horde. The alien monsters shrieked upon its approach, only to be met with two streaks of light that soared out from the rear of the vessel. The lead streak, a flaring crimson, shot right into the center of the horde and ripped through them in a flash of light. When the light faded away, all there was were the body parts of the aliens and a sole humanoid figure, decked in red armor and cloth with long hair waving about in the vacuum of space.

_Tekkaman Niigoki..._

The rest of the horde roared at her and charged. Arching her body forward, the boosters of the crimson tekkaman spat out a burst, jetting her toward the first Radham. The monster launched on of its pincer claws forward, but another burst caused Niigoki to whirl around the attack. Her lancer went into motion soon after, slicing the claw off and causing the beast to roar in pain. Grabbing hold of it underside, Niigoki whirled upward and onto the creature's back, where she proceeded to stab her lancer deep within, killing the beast. As it gave its final cry, Niigoki pressed on, kicking off the monster and making her way to the next one in swift procession.

"Who's next?"

Meanwhile, Tekkaman Shogoki watched all of this from behind. Typically, he was to back her up, but he stayed behind, watching in awe at Niigoki's movements and attacks. Just like when she was practicing before, moved effortlessly and confidently as she slew the Radham one by one. Again, the boy within felt doubt; he was nowhere near the tekkaman she was. He was still trying to get used to battling in the zero-G environment. Initially, he thought he would panic, but for some reason, he was calm in open space. However, fighting was another story; he was still in wonder as to many of his movements, but it didn't seem to matter as Niigoki was doing just fine without him. She didn't even seem to need his help.

_"Don't just stand there, Shinji!"_ Misato shouted from the Blue Earth. _"Get in there and help her!"_

"Uh, right."

With that, Shogoki flew in toward the carnage created by the fiery tekkaman...

* * *

"She sure can leave a trail of destruction in her wake, I can tell you that."

Kaji shrugged at the comment made by Misato as she maneuvered the Blue Earth about, firing on any Radham that left from the outer fringes of the battlefield. After a round of laser fire took down a stray Radham, Kaji replied.

"Well, at least she's getting the job done."

"Yeah but she's going to burn herself out if she keeps this up." she said with a hint of worry. "What is she trying to do, take them all down by herself?"

Again, the unshaven man shrugged. "Probably. It's not like it's impossible. She did it once before." Despite his casual reply however, he was a little worried as well. He knew well enough that Asuka was a proud person. It was her strength; it allowed her to take on the training and the battles she had been in so far. But, as it was beginning to show in the current battle, it was also her weakness. Still, he had to hope that she would be able to work through that.

After all, she couldn't do this alone...

"And if anything goes wrong, Shinji's out there with her."

"I suppose so." she sighed. Although Shinji hadn't been as much into the fight as Asuka was, still, he was supporting her at least. "Well, I guess that'll be something for them to work on later."

Kaji's lips then twisted lecherously. "And there are things we can _work_ on later too."

Misato snarled. "I'd sooner kiss the Radham. And since I'm currently shooting them down..."

* * *

As the Blue Earth soared on, in the core of the battle, Niigoki and Shogoki continued to fight. Actually, Niigoki was doing most of the fighting, tearing through the Radham in rapid fashion. She was moving so much in fact Shogoki couldn't even properly engage the Radham himself and was only able to take out the few Radham that were scattered away from the Niigoki's assault.

Although it seemed more like a massacre...

"Raaahhhh!"

As the lancer of crimson tekkaman finished severing through yet another of the Radham, Niigoki looked about for her next target. Before, the Radham had packed around her so thickly that she only had to take half a glance to lock in on her next target or targets. But now that wasn't the case as the bulk of the Radham had now moved away from her. Beneath her armored face, she felt herself grin.

_'That's right. You should be afraid.'_

The shriek of a Radham from far behind caught her attention for a moment, but upon seeing that it was the cry of death from being slain by Shogoki, she turned away. So far, he was doing as she had told him and letting her do the job. And she was just fine with that. _'No sense in leaving this to amateurs.'_ Refocusing her attention on the main horde, she watched as they continued to move away. Adrenaline urged her to pursue them and continue, but a dark object caused her to pause

"What the...?"

Riding on a single-eyed craft of some kind, a Radham tekkaman descended onto the battlefield and straight toward her. Hearing her, Shogoki turned and too gazed at the approaching enemy, worry and panic coming over him in full force. _'A Radham tekkaman...'_ His last two battles with the alien tekkamen weren't pleasant to say the least and he knew this encounter was bound to be no different.

"Alright." Niigoki smiled. "Finally, a real fight."

Shogoki gasped. As skilled as she was, Shogoki knew that she couldn't possibly match the brute strength of an alien tekkaman head-to-head. _'Was she serious?'_ That question was soon answered when he saw her boosters ignite and her crimson form rushing straight at it.

"Asuka, wait!"

"I'll handle this!" she spat back. "Remember what I said, Third! Don't get in my way!"

Indecision and shock kept Shogoki from going any further. He knew what his feelings told him, but he had also seen Niigoki in action. Perhaps she could take it down by herself; she had amazed him already by her single-handed efforts against the Radham horde. Maybe she was strong enough to beat it.

And yet, that didn't make him worry less...

The two tekkamen continued to fly toward each other, lancers in hand and ready for battle. Due to its craft, the Radham tekkaman fly faster and would reach Niigoki before she could reach him. But that didn't matter to her. As the two came within a foot and a half away and seeming to crash into each other, Niigoki rotated, soaring about and coming up underneath the alien craft the tekkaman was on. Her lancer plunged into the craft and sliced it neatly down the middle. When it passed over her completely, Niigoki leveled herself out and watched as the craft exploded, seemingly taking the tekkaman with it.

Seemingly...

From within the explosion, a thin whip lashed out, catching the female tekkaman by surprise as it tagged her. Niigoki flew back for a moment, but managed to stop herself from going too far. Shaking her head, she looked up to see the alien tekkaman now rushing at her full speed. Niigoki gasped, surprised by the speed of the bulky creature, but managed to lift her lancer up in defense. However, it made no difference as the Radham tekkaman punched through, knocking her backward into a near spiral.

"Asuka!"

Shogoki shot toward the drifting tekkaman and grabbed her from behind before she could sail away further. He heard a low moan come from the crimson tekkaman as she shook her head in recovery.

"Are you...?"

But before he could finish, Niigoki boosted herself out of his grasp and rushed right at the Radham tekkaman. The alien warrior responded by charging at her as well, stretching out its arm and producing a short blade lancer of its own. The two clashed against each other greatly and flew on by, where they wheeled around and struck at each other again and then a third time. On the fourth round, they wound up locking together, trying to push one another. But the strength of the Radham proved superior as it effortlessly tossed Niigoki aside and sent her hurtling through space once again.

"Guahh!"

While she continued flying, the Radham tekkaman crossed its arms, causing the voltekka cells on its shoulders to flash alight and fire a voltekka blast at the disabled tekkaman. With her body still spiraling about, the female tekkaman wouldn't be able to dodge the attack before it hit her.

"No!"

Before the beam came close, Shogoki flew in and placed himself between Niigoki and the beam, appearing to take the shot meant for her. But the plates of his shoulder armor had swiveled open and immediately launched a voltekka of its own. The two beams clashed and, to the alien tekkaman's surprise, Shogoki beam had dispersed it completely and continued on toward it. Engulfed by the power of the Third Child tekkaman, the Radham could only scream out as it was vaporized by the wave of energy.

When the beam ceased, Shogoki turned and moved toward Niigoki, who had finally managed to stop spinning and was shaking her head. He was about to ask again if she was okay or not when she cut him off before he could utter a word this time.

"Are you an idiot?"

"Huh?"

"What were you thinking?" Niigoki grounded out. "You wasted your voltekka on a single enemy?"

"But..."

Shogoki was beyond confused. There was no way she could have dodged or avoided the attack, as she had been incapacitated. Had he not used his voltekka, Niigoki would have been injured or worse. He might have very well saved her life right then and there, all the while dealing with an enemy that had her outmatched. Seeing he was stunned in silence, the crimson tekkaman snorted and turned about.

"Guah. That's just the kind of action I'd expect from an amateur." Her gaze locked on the few remnants of the Radham, who were now returning to try and finish them off. She let out an exasperated sigh as her voltekka cells began to charge with energy.

"This is how it's done, Third."

With a flash, the beam of the Second Child tekkaman soared out toward the incoming horde, blowing through and vaporizing any in it path. Niigoki then moved her body to the side slowly while continuing to fire, causing the beam to spread out and decimating more of the Radham until finally, there were none left to destroy.

_"Enemy forces destroyed."_ Misato called in to them. _"Mission complete. Sit tight; we're coming in to pick you up. And good job, you two."_

As the Blue Earth converged on them, the two tekkamen floated simply in space, exhausted and worn from the battle. Yet, Niigoki couldn't help but throw in a few more of her two cents to her purple-armored compatriot.

"I don't see why she thanked you. You didn't really do anything."

Shogoki, for his part, remained quiet. He knew that he saved her life, but perhaps she was right about his use of the voltekka. Watching her use of it showed him that he still had quite a ways to go to be a capable tekkaman.

_'If only she wasn't such a b...'_

Meanwhile, Niigoki was into her own thoughts. She was a bit upset that her first official battle as a tekkaman of NERV turned out the way it did. True, she started well enough, with her skill being dominant over the Radham. But it had gotten hectic when that alien tekkaman showed up. It was stronger than her, but she felt with some more time, she could have defeated it. But instead, that dork of a tekkaman had gotten in the way of that, using up his voltekka to kill it.

To her, it was ridiculous.

Still, all things considered, it went well enough. The Radham were gone for now and the majority of the kills had been hers. Shogoki -Shinji- was a minus, but it was one she was able to deal with. She just hoped the First Child would be better support that this guy was. But in the end, she would be the one to bring down the Radham, all of them, once and for all. It was a part of her dream after all.

_'I will be the strongest tekkaman... Just like Blade was...'_


	11. Friction

Disclaimer: See initial chapter

* * *

_"Enemy forces destroyed." Misato called in to them. "Mission complete. Sit tight; we're coming in to pick you up. And good job, you two."_

_As the Blue Earth converged on them, the two tekkamen floated simply in space, exhausted and worn from the battle. Yet, Niigoki couldn't help but throw in a few more of her two cents to her purple-armored compatriot._

_"I don't see why she thanked you. You didn't really do anything."_

_

* * *

_

Chapter 10

Friction

* * *

"Okay. For today's exercise, you three will be working together to take down the attack drones. We've put them on a high setting today, so you will have to really hard to defeat them."

Just outside of Tokyo-3, the three Children were assembled before Misato and Ritsuko in front of a booth on a large training field, with the pyramid of NERV HQ glittering a distance away in the background. It has been a week since the battle in space against the Radham and so far things have been fairly quiet in Tokyo-3. The same however, could not be said for the Katsuragi household, who had introduced a new member into the fold just two days after.

Namely Asuka...

So generally, this turn of events unnerved Shinji almost to no end. Seeing her in his class the said morning was more than enough to put him on guard. Despite the pleasant exterior and charm she had when she entered class, he had already gotten a gist of her real attitude back during their time on the Space Ring and the battle that followed it and she (subtly) reminded him of it during class.

On the plus side, it seemed that she had formed a genuine friendship with the class representative, Hikari Horiki. Unfortunately, that put Shinji's two friends, Touji and Kensuke, right in Asuka's crosshairs. While Kensuke couldn't get past the gorgeous appearance of the Second Child, Touji was immediately put off by her attitude and naturally, almost came to blows (literally) with her. And it didn't help that Asuka now grouped the three of them together, calling them Stooges (which elicited another outburst from Touji).

After school ended, Shinji made his way home, for once feeling relieved that he didn't have to deal with Asuka now. But upon arriving, he found a ton load of items and clothing within the apartment. When he asked Misato about this, she had informed him that since Asuka didn't have a place to stay, it was arranged for her to live with them. Aside from convenience, Misato explained that it would be helpful for Asuka to be around people she was familiar with since she was new to Tokyo-3.

It would also get on every last nerve Shinji had left...

Immediately, the German girl made her demands known from food to chores to use of the bathroom. And with each demand, there was the added bonus of insults directed at him. His only escape from her it seemed was when she stormed off into her room for privacy or when she visited her new friend after school.

Mentally, Shinji sighed and took a glance over at his other teammate. Asuka's meeting with Rei wasn't good to say the least. When they arrived at NERV at one point for training, the two teens had run into her. And much like with Shinji, Asuka was hardly impressed with Rei, even going as far as taunting her.

So it didn't help that Rei had practically ignored her...

* * *

_"Excuse me. Could I get by?"_

_Shinji and Asuka were walking down the hallways of NERV, but had stopped when Asuka began berating him for his lack of skill as a tekkaman (actually as a man, period). It was around that time that Rei had mysteriously appeared from behind and moved past Asuka. Annoyed, Asuka called out to the blue-haired girl._

_"Hey! Wait a sec, First!"_

_Rei stopped and glanced back. "Now what?"_

_"I hear you're Commander Ikari's pet, even though you're frigid as a stone."_

_Rei however, didn't react at all to her snide remark and simply looked forward, intent on continuing on. "And what business is that of yours?"_

_Annoyance quickly turned to anger as Asuka moved forward and grabbed hold of Rei's shoulder, almost wheeling her about. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" she snarled. "Don't make a fool of me just because you're the current favorite!"_

_"Cut it out!"_

_It was at that point that Shinji had to intervene, grabbing Asuka by her hand and pulling it away from Rei. She turned to him with a glare and then a secondary glance at Rei_

_"I see. So that's how it is." Breaking out of Shinji's grip, she dashed away, yelling. "Losers, all of you!"_

* * *

After that, both she and Rei had been on bad terms. Actually, she was on bad terms with Rei; Rei didn't seem to care about the whole ordeal at all, at least from what Shinji could see. He was still nowhere close to understanding Rei at all. At best, Shinji could say they had an understanding of each other that could be akin to friendship, but it wasn't the same.

"Shinji! Are you paying attention?"

Shinji blinked, realizing that his attention had drifted away from the briefing. Blushing lightly in embarrassment, Shinji gave a weak apology, which unfortunately was followed by a scoff from his fiery-haired teammate.

"Baka's probably too busy ogling Wondergirl."

Shinji frowned. That was another thing he could do without. It seemed that Asuka took it upon herself to call him an idiot just about every chance she got. And not only that, she seemed to find it fit to give Rei a nickname as well. Of course, Rei never reacted to her, which annoyed Asuka more which, in turn, made her take it out on him.

"Anyway, as I was saying..." Misato continued. "This training exercise will help you three to better coordinate your attacks. Focus is everything in this, so do your best, understood?"

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

A few minutes later, the three Children, now in their tekkamen personas, were assembled on the training field by themselves. Before them, a set of attack drones flittered about in the air. As stated, the object of the exercise was to take down the drones while holding an attack formation. The first half of the exercise would be easy enough; facing drones would be nothing compared to facing the Radham. And group tactics were also nothing new to them. But they have never all fought together before. That would be a severe problem if they weren't able to unite their skills in actual combat. They would become easy prey for the Radham or worse, they could hurt each other..

"Begin!"

Within the booth, Misato, Ritsuko and a few other technicians watched as the training commenced. The drones immediately went into motion, scattering about and targeting the three tekkamen. The three responded quickly, jumping back from the shots that were fired from the drone. The shots wouldn't hurt them, but a part of their performance would be based on how many of those shots would hit them.

And Asuka, -Tekkaman Niigoki- would have none of it...

"Ha!"

Leaping up, Niigoki soared toward the first drone and attacked, the drone dodged her attack and she savagely went after it, her lancer cutting through the air as it connected with the target this time, slicing it through. But her attack left her exposed to two more drones, who charged to fire.

_Shkk! Shkkk!_

The drones were quickly decimated by the lancer of Zerogoki, but too late to stop the beams from shooting out at Niigoki. However, the shots themselves were then intercepted by Shogoki, who took the shots bodily, crossing his arms in front of him as they struck him.

"Baka! What do you think you're doing?"

Shogoki began to turn to retort, but by that time, Niigoki had already rushed to attack her next set of targets. Wordlessly, Zerogoki followed suit and Shogoki had no choice but to follow as well. Meanwhile in the booth, Ritsuko watched the three tekkamen battle with the drones and felt herself frown. So far, the three of them were doing very poorly against them team wise. Niigoki would constantly race ahead, working to take down the drones quickly and by herself. Shogoki would seem to lag behind the two, managing to deflect the attacks, but only by taking them himself. Zerogoki was the only one that seemed to get purpose of the exercise, deflecting attacks from the two whenever she could. But between Niigoki's rushing and Shogoki's falling behind, there wasn't much she could do. With a sigh, Ritsuko closed her eyes, not even having to turn around to see the really annoyed scowl on Misato's face as she mentally counted down.

_'3...2...1...'_

"What the hell are they doing out there?"

* * *

Later at night, Shinji stared up at the ceiling of his room, the music of his SDAT playing in his ears as his thoughts were on today's training exercise. After being thoroughly chewed out by Misato for their poor performance, the three were soon dismissed. As if that wasn't bad enough, Asuka made it a point to complain and blame the other two for being too slow to keep up with her, Shinji in particular. Now Shinji was a fairly meek person (an understatement, to be sure), not prone to tempers. But there were more than a few moments where he wanted nothing more than to throttle the girl. Why was she always so volatile and insulting?

_-'Mama!'-_

With a start, Shinji shot up from his bed. His eyes were wide as he realized that the voice was Asuka's, but even more, it had sounded in his head. True enough, his tekkaset glimmered on his forehead as he removed the earpieces of his SDAT from his ears, rose up and quietly left his room. Approaching the German girl's door, he lifted his hand to knock, but paused as he began to rethink on whether or not this was a good idea.

_-"Please, Mama!"-_

The second mental cry was enough to prompt Shinji to knock on the door. When he didn't get an answer, he quietly opened to door and peered inside. Asuka's room was a bit cluttered, thank to all of her stuff that she brought with her, but it was a lot better than Misato's room. His eyes soon found the said girl in bed asleep. But it wasn't a comfortable one from the looks of it, as the said girl was tossing lightly in her sleep.

"Don't...leave me...Mama..."

This time, it wasn't a mental cry but a pitiful whimper from the girl's lips. And on closer inspection, Shinji could see stray drops of tears on her cheeks. He didn't understand how he could feel her sadness so vividly, nor could he see what she was actually dreaming about. But it didn't change the fact that it was there; a deep distress that he felt clearly.

It reminded him...of himself...

Backing away, Shinji quietly closed the door, taking to heart what he had just saw. It was a completely different persona than what he had associated with Asuka. Not the tough, obnoxiously proud tekkaman, but a sad, frightened little girl. Perhaps the former attitude was just a front; a mask to hide her pain? It made sense to the young tekkaman now that he thought about it.

Returning to his room and bed, he replaced the earpieces back in his ear, but didn't turn the device on as his thoughts began to mull about in his mind. Given what he had felt from Asuka, it seemed that she was really no different from either Rei or himself; she just hid it well. Perhaps he jumped to judgment on her too soon? He wasn't sure. All that he knew was that for the first time since her arrival, Shinji felt something for her other than awe or annoyance.

_Pity..._


	12. Trial by Fire

Disclaimer: See initial chapter

* * *

_"Don't...leave me...Mama..."_

_This time, it wasn't a mental cry but a pitiful whimper from the girl's lips. And on closer inspection, Shinji could see stray drops of tears on her cheeks. He didn't understand how he could feel her sadness so vividly, nor could he see what she was actually dreaming about. But it didn't change the fact that it was there; a deep distress that he felt clearly._

_It reminded him...of himself..._

* * *

Chapter 11

Trial by Fire

* * *

"Okay, stop!"

In the training field outside of NERV, the three Children were once again going through their team exercises. Actually, it was only Shogoki _(Shinji)_ and Niigoki _(Asuka)_ that were training right now. Rei stood with Misato, Ritsuko and Kaji, watching the less-than-successful teamwork of the two tekkamen against the attack drones. Both Children lowered down from the sky and in front of the group, at which Misato was at the forefront, her face only just showing her irritation.

"Shinji, you have to stay focused on the battle." she started. "You're still being too self-conscious."

"Okay, sorry..."

As much as he tried, it was something the young man really couldn't help. Seeing his teammates in action together brought his old insecurities back. Both girls moved with grace and precision, with Rei seemed to be more elegant and straight-forward in her attacks and movements while Asuka was flamboyant and dramatic. And while the two moved so superbly, he felt like he was stumbling along. It wasn't as noticeable when he was just paired with Asuka, but it was still there. And her comments to him didn't help much either.

Misato continued on, her attention now on the crimson tekkaman as her voice rose close to yelling. "Asuka, how many times do I have to tell you not to rush off and leave Shinji behind! You're supposed to be working as a team!"

Her reaction was the direct opposite of Shinji's. "You can't be serious! Why should I slow down just to work with that idiot?" Her head turned away and a hand on her hip, she returned. "He's a tekkaman, isn't he? He should be able to at least keep up!"

The migraine that was ebbing in Misato's head began to grow to a full-on headache. And if that wasn't enough, Asuka wasn't done yet and turned to point at the First Child. "And how come the First isn't being lectured? She's not doing anything, but sitting there."

Misato shut her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "Rei."

"Yes."

"Could you join Shinji for a bit instead of Asuka?"

The response was immediate. "Yes, ma'am."

Stepping away from the group of adults, Rei wasted no time in summoning forth her tekkaset. Her crimson gaze was locked onto Shogoki, whose head lowed in probable embarrassment, as the energy of her crystal shone and engulfed her, bringing the alien armor into being and silently turning her in Tekkaman Zerogoki. Misato turned to the technicians, who started up a new set of drones. Turning back to Shogoki and Zerogoki, Misato gave the signal.

"Go!"

Immediately, the two tekkamen shot off as the drones activated. Shogoki seemed to hesitate, as he was accustomed to having to follow Asuka. But as one of the drones took aim on him, it was suddenly slashed apart by Zerogoki's lancer. Another drone swooped in and locked on to Zerogoki, but it was quickly dispatched by Shogoki.

In the brief time of their exercise, that had been the pattern for them. Each one would take down a drone or two and be saved by their partner. Despite Shinji's insecurities, he wasn't given any time to dwell on them as he was focused on covering Zerogoki. And he sensed that Rei doing the same thing. In the end, their performance wasn't too dramatic, but they never left each other exposed; exactly what Misato wanted.

Teamwork...

As the exercise ended, both hands of Niigoki were clenched tightly into fists. She had seen the teamwork of the two tekkamen and despite not wanting to, was impressed by what she had seen. But the fact that Misato, Ritsuko and especially Kaji were equally impressed infuriated her so much that both Shogoki and Zerogoki sensed her and turned to the crimson tekkaman as she shouted.

"Fine! Then I guess you don't need me!"

Before anyone could say a word, Niigoki ran off and, boosters igniting, she flew off into the sky. Misato's face faulted and she grabbed the side of her head as though suffering from a headache (which may not be too far from the truth).

"Oh, God! I don't have time for this! So much for the jealousy gambit!

While Misato moaned in agony and Ritsuko seem to casually enter inside the booth, Kaji directed his attention to Shogoki.

"Go after her, Shinji."

The purple tekkaman turned to him in what appeared to be a puzzled manner. However, the unshaven man continued. "This is your job too."

Shogoki paused, letting the man's words sink into him. Kaji seemed to notice his understanding because gave him a smile before turning away and entering the booth himself. Turning about, Shogoki prepared to go after Niigoki, but was stopped briefly by the quiet voice of Zerogoki.

"You only need to be you, Ikari-kun. Not Soryu or me."

* * *

It took a few minutes for Shogoki to find Asuka. Part of him mulled over Ayanami's words to him before he left. Honestly, he was a bit surprised she spoke to him and with encouraging words as well. _'Maybe we really are friends?'_ Perhaps he would try to find some time later to talk with her a bit more, but first thing's first. Soon enough, he spotted Asuka on a rocky ledge near overlooking the beach. Her tekkaman armor now absent, she simply stood looking out into the sea.

_All alone..._

Landing a distance away from her, Shinji shed his own armor and slowly strode toward her. She didn't seem to notice his presence; either that or she was ignoring him or didn't care. Stopping just a few feet, Shinji hesitated. Although he understood what Kaji had meant when he had said to go after her, he wasn't sure how to go about it. How could he convince someone to work with him when she obviously didn't want to? But seeing her by herself only reminded him of the night he saw her weeping in her sleep. He still didn't know what to do, but he had to try something.

"Soryu."

Immediately, she shot back at him, although she continued to face the sea. "What do you want? Why did you follow me?"

Reflexively, Shinji apologized, which only brought out more of the Second Child's ire. "Why am I the one to get yelled at? I'm doing it perfectly! You're the bumbling klutz. You're the slowpoke! Why take it out on me!"

Shinji apologized again. "I'm sorry. I'm doing my best, really."

Asuka sneered at him, but said nothing else. Hoping this was a good sign, Shinji continued. "Maybe you should relax a bit. Sure, you're a good tekkaman, and you've graduated from college, but you're still just a kid, just like everyone else."

"Are you trying to give me advice?" she replied, beginning to finally turn to face him. "Well, let me make something clear to you. I am _not_ just a kid like everyone else! The Radham made sure of that!"

Shinji's eyes lowered briefly. He had heard such words before; it was along the line about how tekkamen and primary bodies were no longer human. Such sentiments gave rise to prejudices and unwarranted fear in many. Even now, when it had become somewhat regular in the world, the fears and words lingered. And if that wasn't enough, a good portion of primary bodies believed it. And it appears that Asuka was one such person.

"I suppose you're right." Swallowing, his lifted his eyes back up to meet her, vaguely noting her silence at the moment. "But, don't you get tired of it? Forcing yourself like this? It's unnatural. Maybe-"

"OH, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, **SHUT UP!**" she yelled. "What do you know? Who do you think you are!"

Once again, the boy's eyes lowered. It looked like all he was doing was angering her further. Somberly, he answered her. "No one apparently." He turned to the side, as though he was about to leave, but he paused and continued to speak. "I'm sorry, it's just... I understand what you're going through. I used to do the same thing."

Memories of his earlier days and behavior in Tokyo-3 came to mind. Since it had seemed that everyone only wanted him there as a tekkaman, he felt that everything else didn't matter so long as he could fight. As a result, he acted like he didn't really care about those around him. But neither was true. Far from it. He cared a great deal about those around him, even if they only wanted him around for selfish purposes. And there were people who saw him as more than just a tekkaman. People who honestly cared about him. Misato, Touji, Kensuke, Rei...

_People he could call friends..._

"You, understand me?" Asuka retorted. "Now that's a laugh."

Again, there was a moment of silence as Shinji regarded the girl in front of him. She was so strong, so independent, a much better person than he was (at least in his mind). But that night, when he sensed her sadness, he knew there was also a sad, fragile soul within the proud shell. It was something he could relate to. But she wasn't interested in revealing that part of herself to him, not openly anyway. There was nothing else he could do here.

"Sorry." he whispered. "I'll go now."

Turning away, Shinji hadn't taken no more than three steps when his tekkaset flashed on his forehead. Eyes widening, he turned and looked up at the sky over the sea. Asuka did likewise as she sensed the same thing. A black orb materialized a distance away, just over the water. Sparks of energy flickered around it and the orb soon dissipated, revealing three large humanoid figures.

All alien...

"Radham."

Indeed, hovering over the sea was three Radham tekkamen. Shinji blanched at this. Three? Fighting one was a cause for struggle and now there were three? Naturally, his instinct was to get the heck out of there and warn Misato, provided she didn't know already it. Then there would be a plan of attack, upon which he would have to fight these guys, something he wasn't looking forward to, but would do anyway. Looking at Asuka, he expected her to begin moving away and together they would return to NERV.

_Except she didn't move._

"Asuka?"

The German girl simply continued to look at the Radham, silently watching their approach. Confused, Shinji moved beside her and placed a hand on his shoulder. A risky move (she had hit him more than once from accidental touches), he knew, but reasonable under the circumstances. Her head swiftly turned toward him and Shinji winced, preparing for the worse. However, she didn't do anything aside from looking at him with a determined gaze.

"Well, time to go to work."

The face of the Third Child blanched with shock once again. "Wha- Now?"

"Don't get me wrong. I still don't need your help, but...I don't want to waste too much time on those creeps. And since Misato is so bent on us working together, this might as well be a good time."

B-but...!"

"Besides, they're too close for us to retreat now. They'll come after us anyway. Might as well deal with them now."

Inwardly, Shinji was shaking his head. It was amazing how the German girl had gone from being unreasonable to being logical. While it was true that retreat at this point was close to impossible, to take them head on now was even closer to suicide. But as he looked at her, he came to a realization. She wanted him to fight _with_ her. That was a much different attitude than before. He didn't know what brought it about, but it gave him a warm feeling. He may live to regret this (provided he lived at all), but the words had found their way out of his mouth.

"Alright."

Nodding, Asuka wheeled about, returning her gaze to the approaching Radham and summoning her tekkaset. "Let's show Misato and the First what we can do!"

With simultaneous cries, the crystals shone from their respective owners' hands and the two shot off into the sky...


	13. Forge

Disclaimer: See initial chapter

* * *

_"Don't get me wrong. I still don't need your help, but...I don't want to waste too much time on those creeps. And since Misato is so bent on us working together, this might as well be a good time."_

_B-but...!"_

_"Besides, they're too close for us to retreat now. They'll come after us anyway. Might as well deal with them now."_

_"...Alright."_

_Nodding, Asuka wheeled about, returning her gaze to the approaching Radham and summoning her tekkaset. "Let's show Misato and the First what we can do!"_

* * *

Chapter 12

Forge

* * *

_She felt them..._

Stationed in the training field with Misato, Ritsuko and Kaji, Rei looked up and over into the distance. More to the point, she gazed in the direction that Asuka and Shinji had flown off to. However, it wasn't them she was sensing right now, although their presence was in her mind now. Rather, she was focused on something more...alien

_'Radham.'_

A moment later, Misato rushed out of the booth, her face flushed with panic as she looked over at Rei. The panic subsided soon enough, but the urgency in her voice was clear.

"We have an emergency. Radham have been sighted in the vicinity. Prepare to sortie."

"Roger."

As Misato returned inside for some hasty transport preparations, Rei turned back toward the direction she was looking. She would be interrupted again by the ring of her phone, but like the Captain's order, she had expected this. Placing the device to the side of the head, she answered quietly.

"Commander."

The voice on the other end gave no pleasantries. _-"Time."-_

"Precisely five minutes ago sir."

_-"Excellent. That is all."-_

"Yes sir."

* * *

He was pretty sure of it now...

He had lost his mind...

Yet, that didn't stop him and Asuka from making a beeline straight toward the Radham tekkamen. Seeing them veering closer did little to quell the dread he felt. It was difficult enough for them to beat one and now they were charging toward three. It was even worse when he looked at it. Three Radham tekkamen for each NERV tekkaman. It just showed that even the Radham were aware that the odds were against them. And yet, with Asuka -Niigoki- boldly flying just ahead of him, he couldn't help but feel at least a little of her courage trickle into him.

_'I can do this. We can do this!'_

"You understand the plan, right?"

Shogoki nodded. "Yes. We take them down one by one."

"Right. So don't bungle it, okay? And for heaven's sake, do NOT use your voltekka unless absolutely necessary!"

Shinji refrained from telling her that the last time he had used it, it was to save her life. Plus, he never wantonly used his strongest weapon as doing so drained him and left him vulnerable. And then there was that instance when he first used it and accidentally hurt Touji's sister. He may have been a spineless coward, but he wasn't an idiot (regardless of how many times she insisted otherwise).

"Roger!"

With that, the two tekkamen simultaneously ignited their boosters for an extra burst of speed. This act caught the three Radham off-guard and the lead alien was suddenly struck by the speeding pair. By the time it had recovered and turned to face the attackers along with its brethren, Niigoki and Shogoki were already charging in on it again, lancers drawn.

"Hyyyaaa!"

In the lead, Shogoki attacked first, slashing high. The Radham tekkaman managed to block with its lancer, but that left it open to Niigoki as she followed up after him. The tekkaman pulled away, but not fast enough as Niigoki's lancer slashed the tekkaman's arm off. The alien warrior shrieked in pain and as it pulled back, Niigoki began to move in for the kill. But by that time, the other two alien tekkaman were already upon them, both in attack.

"Asuka! Watch out!"

The crimson tekkaman quickly shot back in response to the warning, but was still caught by the shoulder rush of one of attackers. Shogoki moved in to assist, but was cut off by a charge from the third tekkaman. Shogoki managed to defend, but the strength of the alien once again proved great enough to force the young tekkaman downward and toward the waters below. Within his armor, Shinji grit his teeth as he forced himself to rotate upon his descent and land on the rocky grounds feet first.

With the Radham tekkaman closing in on him.

With a shot of his boosters, Shogoki shot back as the alien warrior struck down, missing him completely and submerging itself into the water. Backing away further, Shogoki settled on the rocky beachside, his eyes lifting up to see Niigoki being dangerous pressed by the remaining two Radham. Just then, the water exploded and the Radham launched itself out of the water and toward him. Shogoki lifted his lancer in defense, just barely blocking the lancer the alien had attacked him with. His feet dug into the ground under the force, but the young tekkaman held his ground.

_'No! Asuka!'_

Meanwhile, Niigoki was more than occupied trying to evade the two Radham left with her. Despite the fact that one of them was missing an arm, they were still physically stronger than her. And her teammate was stuck fighting only one. On the one hand, he was quite annoyed by this fact, but on the other, she could hardly say anything as she wasn't even able to fight back against the two coming at her. If she didn't break away soon, they would be sure to crush her.

And Shinji would be alone...

She wasn't sure why, but that thought bothered her more than she thought it would. He may have been a wimp and far beneath her level, but he was still a fellow tekkaman, fighting the battle on the front lines the same as she was. For the first time for as long as she could remember, she wasn't alone.

_-"I understand what you're going through. I used to do the same thing."-_

She wasn't ready to believe that, but at the same time, it was something that..._wasn't_ so far-fetched. It gave her an unusual feeling, the same feeling that prompted her to attack with him at her side, to be willing to try out that feeling (recklessly) in teamwork in an actual combat situation.

The same feeling that made her break away and head downward...

Meanwhile, Shogoki was still locked in a viscous struggle with his opponent. Unable to break out, he was now being pushed to down to his knees. The image of Niigoki being bullied by the two Radham flashed in his mind and with great might, he managed to force the Radham tekkaman back. But it wasn't very far and the alien warrior lunged at him once more. Placing his lancer forward, Shogoki met with the enemy's attack and deflected the attack. But rather than counter, Shogoki swooped past the alien; his boosters beginning to flare and ready to send him skyward.

Only to see a crimson blur rush past him...

Shogoki whirled in shock as Niigoki shot down from the sky and toward the Radham tekkaman as it was turning about to pursue Shogoki. Niigoki imagined surprise to be on its face as her lancer flashed out and slashed right at the alien warrior. The creature was able to block, but the momentum of her attack pushed it back, slamming it down to the ground. Niigoki prepared to move in to finish it when a glow of red light caused her to pause and turn about.

In the sky above, the two Radham she had left behind had both charged their voltekka and were about to fire on her. Niigoki bent down low in preparation to dodge when a loud screeching caught her attention and she saw an object shoot up through the sky and into Radham. A scream roared out from the Radham that had been struck and it turned aside in pain, inadvertedly diverting its voltekka toward it partner, blasting it. Watching on, Niigoki soon caught sight of what had shot up into the sky in the first place, as it was still stuck in the Radham's shoulder.

A lancer... Shogoki's lancer...

Shogoki had hurled his lancer at the Radham while it was charging its voltekka, with the above results. Shogoki then shot his wire up and latched hold on the speared lancer. But the Radham noticed this and grabbed hold of it, ready to pull the young tekkaman upward. But before it could, Niigoki rushed up beside him, grabbed hold of Shogoki's arm and together, the two tekkamen pulled down first.

Combined, their strength was enough pull the alien warrior down, tearing out the lancer in the process as the creature crashed into the waters below. It was then that the Radham tekkaman that had been knocked down earlier rose up and bellowed out in rage. The two tekkamen whirled about at the sound and watched as it charged at them. Shogoki rushed to reel in his lancer, but the Radham tekkaman was already upon them.

"Yaahhh!"

Releasing Shogoki's arm, the crimson tekkaman met the alien's charge with her out, their lancers clashing against each other violently. Fighting the Radham immense strength, Niigoki dug her heals into the earth, holding it back. Just then, Shogoki rushed in, after finally retrieving his lancer, and attacked. Backing away, the Radham tekkaman deflected the blow, only to watch him suddenly whirl around, his opposite arm holding something else.

Niigoki's arm.

Propelled through the air, Niigoki smashed her feet right into the face of the large opponent, knocking it back again. Niigoki then back-flipped, allowing Shogoki to rush in again and attack, managing to shatter the Radham's lancer. Again, the alien warrior reeled back and for a moment, Shogoki could definitely sense shock and surprise coming from it. But he didn't let that deter him as he leveled his lancer in stabbing posture.

Right alongside Niigoki's lancer...

Together, the two tekkamen ran their foe through causing it to let out a gargle of agony. The Radham and tried to reach for them, but the two forced their lancers to opposite sides, tearing the alien warrior almost in half and causing it to fall down dead. Their foe vanquished, the two stood still, breathing heavily. Shogoki was just managing to regain his bearing when the Niigoki suddenly spoke.

"Well, that was sloppy. You're still too slow. And you let yourself get separated. I may not be able to save you next time."

"Sorry." he muttered. Even though he knew that wasn't exactly what happened and everything else was out of his control, Shogoki was too exhausted to talk back. And even if he wasn't, he would have just apologized anyway. He was ready for another wave of berating when she spoke, but he noticed her voice was lighter.

"But, that being said... I guess it worked out well enough. We did manage to beat them." She looked over at him. "And you did pretty well, for a klutz."

Beneath the armor, Shinji blinked and looked back at her. Although he couldn't see her face, he could sense the look of (slight) approval on her face.

"Words of praise...from you?"

It was then that the water behind them erupted and the Radham tekkaman that had been struck by Shogoki's lancer emerged, letting out an alien scream of fury. The two tekkamen immediately stepped back in surprise as the creature began to lunge at them, only to suddenly be engulfed in a beam of blue energy and blown up. Shogoki and Niigoki covered their faces from the resulting explosion and soon looked up at the source.

"You're late, First!"

Silently, Rei, now in her Zerogoki persona, dropped down beside them from the flying Blue Earth; her voltekka cells were still hissing from use as she joined her companions.

"And using your voltekka on a single opponent, seriously?" Niigoki then jerked a thumb back and the purple tekkaman behind her. "Baka here knows better than that at least!"

Zerogoki remained silent, as did Shogoki who simply sighed to himself at being called an idiot by Niigoki again. Even still though, Shogoki -Shinji- felt a sense of accomplishment here. Although it wasn't an ideal situation and as Niigoki had said, sloppy, the two of them were able to work well together as a team. With a little more time and practice, they may be able to be a real team after all. And maybe...

Maybe they could all be friends.


	14. Abandon

Disclaimer: See previous chapter

* * *

_"But, that being said... I guess it worked out well enough. We did manage to beat them." She looked over at him. "And you did pretty well, for a klutz."_

_Beneath the armor, Shinji blinked and looked back at her. Although he couldn't see her face, he could sense the look of (slight) approval on her face._

_"Words of praise...from you?"_

* * *

Chapter 13

Abandon

* * *

A week has passed since the attack by the three Radham tekkamen and the three Children were slowly beginning to learn how to fight as a unit. Of course there were still a few tweaks they had to work out, but for the most part, they were starting to come together. But Misato knew there was only so much they could learn from practice runs with drones. The battle Shogoki and Niigoki were in showed her that what was needed was actual combat experience.

But she never expected it to be this much…

"Captain. Children."

Misato, Asuka and Shinji stood in attention in Fuyutsuki's office; a smaller and infinitely less intimidating office than the Commander's. The same could be said for Sub-Commander himself as he settled down into his chair, but he was still a command authority and he presented it with his presence alone.

"Your next mission will be one of a delicate nature. Long range sensors have detected a possible Radham force between Mars and Jupiter; particularly, within the asteroid belt."

"That is delicate." Misato replied thoughtfully. "They'll have cover in the asteroid in addition to the usual hassles."

"It will be difficult, true. But that's not the delicate part." Pausing for a moment, he then explained to them." Because of that difficulty, the Commander has made arrangements for you Children to join the Epsilon Unit of the Soltekka Corp."

The captain blinked at this. "We're to team up…with the military?"

"Yes."

"We don't need a bunch of wannabe tekkamen to fight the Radham! We've been doing well so far by ourselves, even with the Third and First lagging behind. " Asuka suddenly burst out. Her gaze then wandered a bit. "Speaking of which, where is she anyway?"

Ignoring her initial outburst, Fuyutsuki answered her calmly. "Pilot Ayanami had some tests to undergo. But she has already been briefed on the mission."

"Is she okay?" Shinji asked.

The elder man didn't miss the worry in the young boy's voice. "She's just fine; just some routine work. And as for your earlier question, Sohryu, part of it is politics." She was ready to speak again, but the Sub-Commander continued. "Although we work separately for the most part, NERV and the military have similar goals, mainly to stop the Radham. In this case, we just happen to be working together."

"Sir." Misato began."If I may ask, why hasn't the Commander briefed us on this mission?"

She sincerely hoped that question didn't sound like an insult and to her relief; the elder man gave a slight nod in understanding. "The Commander is currently occupied in with another matter. And I have more experience in dealing with military." He paused again as she took in this answer before continuing on. "You will depart the day after tomorrow in the Blue Earth from the new elevator we have installed and launch to rendezvous with the unit in Space Ring orbit where you will then proceed to the target area."

"Understood."

"Shinji and Asuka, you two are dismissed, Captain, I would have a word with you."

"Yes sir."

* * *

_Two days later…_

-0-

The day of the mission had come, but unfortunately for Asuka and Shinji, they still had school to attend before they headed out. While Asuka was her usual 'charming' self, Shinji's mood was sullen (more so than usual), a fact that Misato noticed as they headed out. Halfway there, Shinji suddenly changed direction and began heading of another direction.

"Hey Shinji, where are you going?" Asuka questioned. "That's the wrong way."

"Yeah, well… I have someplace to go today." he quietly replied

The German girl gave a low huff and turned away. "Fine. Do what you want."

As Asuka continued on to school, Shinji simply walked away, his feet already knowing where to go. After about a half an hour or so, he arrived at his destination; a graveyard just on the outskirts of Tokyo-3. Entering through the gate, he slowly strode pass the numerous grave markers around him, his eyes lowered as his thoughts mulled about.

'How many years has it been since I last came here? I still can't believe that Mom's asleep, beneath a place like this. I don't even know what she looked like. And yet…'

His train of thought stopped there as he was never really able to fully explain that part. It should have been a sad thing not to remember what he mother looked like. But it wasn't, not completely. Whenever he thought about her, he would remember…feelings; always vivid feelings of warmth. He didn't understand why or how, but that was part of the reason why he didn't believe she was here. It was odd, but what else could he-

"Dad…"

Arriving at the grave marker, Shinji was shocked to see to form of his father rising up from the ground, where a bouquet of flowers was settled in between. Hearing his son's voice, Gendo turned to look at him; his dark glasses once again shielding his eyes from view.

"Shinji."

* * *

"_Uh…um, this is Shinji Ikari. Is Commander Ikari there?"_

_-"Just a moment, please."-_

_-"Shinji, what is it?"-_

"_Uh…um… Do you remember what day it is tomorrow?"_

_-"…What day? Tomorrow? What about it?"-_

"_Oh, well… Nothing…"_

_-"Don't call unless it's important." *klik*-_

'_It's the anniversary of Mom's death…Dad…'_

* * *

" I… I can't believe it." Shinji stammered. "You came to visit her grave. Do you come every year?"

Looking back at the marker, Gendo simply replied. "Yes."

"What was Mom like?" His voice began to betray his excitement. "Do you have any pictures of her?"

"No. No pictures."

Pausing, Shinji lowered his eyes sadly, in realization. "You…threw them all away, didn't you?"

"Yes." His eyes didn't stray from the marker. "This grave is just for show. There's no body here. In the mind…that's all that's needed, for now."

"For now?" the boy said in surprise.

The NERV commander remained silent for a while and then spoke. "Shinji… Don't look for me anymore."

Further surprise followed by confusion. "What?"

"People only live by their own strength. They only grow by their own strength. Only infants need parents. And you are no longer an infant. Stand on your own two feet, and walk. I learned to do the same."

"But… I…"

Gendo cut him off, finally turning his head partly to look at the boy. "Don't try to think we can understand each other. For some reason, people think that they can do that. Remember that they can't. Never completely. Never enough. People are such sad creatures."

Shinji could do nothing but stand in silence at his father's words. What could he say? Just when he thought that there was a common ground between them, something that could be shared between them, it only serves as a moment for his father to…cut him away? Just then, a hovercraft swept down from above, stopping right in front of the Commander. Turning away fully once more, Gendo strode toward the hovercraft, saying nothing else to his son as he entered the vehicle. Shinji, still stunned, managed a glimpse of Rei seated onboard as the hovercraft took off.

Leaving the young tekkaman there…all alone…

* * *

_**NERV HQ, Blue Earth Launch Elevator**_

-0-

"_Stand on your own two feet, and walk." _

"_Don't try to think we can understand each other."_

It was those two sentences that weighed heavily on the heart of the young boy; the finality of it. While on the surface, it could be seen as advice, Shinji know that it was more than that. It was a dismissal. His father had made it clear; he wanted nothing to do with Shinji short of his ability to fight the Radham. Shinji had known this, since his arrival to Tokyo-3. But he hoped, just hoped, that maybe, just maybe his father would change his mind. But of course he hadn't. He never would. Their talk at the grave only confirmed that.

And it hurt… even after all this time… even after knowing before hand…

"All right guys. Hang on tight."

Seated in the Blue Earth, Misato and the Children, now dressed in their skintight uniforms, prepared for the launch in their newly installed underground/underwater elevator. The signal light lit up and the elevator shot the Blue Earth forward through the water at high speed. The angle of the elevator soon veered upward and the spaceship shot out of the water and into the sky. With the auxiliary boosters now ignited and no water hampering its acceleration, the Blue Earth shot up through the sky like a bullet, approaching the dark horizon of space and then bolting into it when the auxiliary boosters separated from the starship. Now free from the gravity of the planet, the Blue Earth soared away, speeding toward the orbiting Space Ring and on route to their rendezvous point.

"This mission sucks!"

Misato shook her head at Asuka, who continued to fume out loud. "We shouldn't have to babysit a bunch of wannabe tekkamen."

Misato let out a low sigh, but didn't reply. Asuka had been complaining about the mission ever since they had received it. Not that Misato didn't understand it to some extent. Although they were both government sanctioned, NERV was more of a civilian organization. Despite that (or because of that), they had a greater pull within it, earning the dislike of many high-ranking members in the military. And it didn't help that NERV had a better success rate against the Radham.

But the understanding came from NERV's predecessor, the Space Knights. In the past, the Space Knights and the military had been at odds with each other. Misato didn't know all the details, but from what she did know, it was a power struggle or sorts against the Radham invasion. But it was the Space Knights and more importantly, Tekkaman Blade, that drove the Radham away, earning the enmity of the military.

With another sigh, Misato glanced back at the other two Children, who were silent throughout the launch. From Rei, that was expected and the same could be said of Shinji, but only to an extent. She had noticed this dark mood when he was on his way to school and then after hearing that he had been absent and learning of his whereabouts, she did some checking and pretty much discovered that today was the memorial of his mother's death.

'_Hell of a time for a mission'_.

It was odd really. For as long as she had known Shinji, she had never heard of him talk about his mother. For that matter, she didn't know anything about her save her name, Yui. _'I wonder what kind of woman she was'_. Aside from that, the NERV database had little to nothing on her. That in itself was a mystery, and unlike Kaji, she didn't like mysteries.

Quiet as ever, Rei's only change is the slight glances she made toward the Third Child. Given what she had seen at the gravesite, she could pretty much guess the reason for Shinji's current state. Whatever he and the Commander spoke about, it didn't do any favors to Shinji's psyche. And though her face remained impassive, she felt flutters in her stomach for what she soon realized were…concern. She may not have known it, but her thoughts were mirroring that of their pilot. But there was nothing that could be done about it now.

…Except hope he could complete the mission.


	15. Counterpoint

Disclaimer: See previous chapter

* * *

"_People only live by their own strength. They only grow by their own strength. Only infants need parents. And you are no longer an infant. Stand on your own two feet, and walk. I learned to do the same."_

"_But… I…"_

_Gendo cut him off, finally turning his head partly to look at the boy. "Don't try to think we can understand each other. For some reason, people think that they can do that. Remember that they can't. Never completely. Never enough. People are such sad creatures."_

* * *

Chapter 14

Counterpoint

* * *

"There they are."

Everyone's attention was brought to the forward where they beheld a large ship that was several times the size of the Blue Earth; its silvery hull just barely gleaming off the lights of the Space Ring. Even Asuka, who was still annoyed by the mission, couldn't help feeling the awe upon seeing the space cruiser. Veering closer, the team could make out a name on the side of the ship: _Legionnaire_.

"This is the Blue Earth to Legionnaire." Misato announced over the com.

_-"This is Legionnaire. Major Katsuragi, I presume?"-_

'_Major?'_ Asuka blinked. _'When did she make Major?'_

"Yes. And I take it this is Captain Miles of the Legionnaire?" she returned.

_-"That's right. Docking Bay 3 is available to you."-_

"Thank you."

Maneuvering toward the larger ship, the Blue Earth entered the designated docking bay and settled down. Exiting their ship, the team was met with one of the crew members, who were to escort them the way to the bridge. As they followed, they caught sight of the line of Sol-Tekkas that belonged to the Epsilon Unit. And while Asuka made a despairing face, Shinji was impressed to see the armored combat suits.

After walking down a few corridors and up an elevator, the group finally arrived on the bridge. Various crew members were either walking about in activity or seated in front of consoles. It wasn't all that different from the bridge of NERV HQ. Before them, in the center of all of this were two men. Both appeared middle-aged, although there were marks of wrinkles on one of them. The other man (the one without the wrinkles) saw her and the Children and gave them a friendly smile

"Welcome aboard, Major."

"Captain. Good to be on board." Lending out her hand, she returned the smile. "This is quite a ship."

Taking her hand, he shook it lightly. "Thank you; I'd like to think so. Your ship is quite a beauty as well."

From behind, Asuka barely restrained the scowl coming up over her face. _'I can't believe they're flirting. Honestly, that woman has no shame.'_

Unaware of the thoughts of the redhead behind her, Misato stepped aside and held a hand out to the three. "May I introduce the Children; First Child, Ayanami Rei; Second Child, Asuka Sohryu,; and Third Child, Ikari Shinji."

"Children." He replied with a nod, before turning to his companion. "And I'll like to introduce Sergeant Wilkes, Commander of Epsilon Unit."

"Major."

"Sergeant." Misato returned, noticing that the man didn't even bother to acknowledge the presence of the Children. At that point, one of the crew members seated at a console turned about and addressed the captain.

"Sir, all signs are in the green."

With a nod, Capt. Miles turned to her. "Good. Then let's get underway. The sooner we go, the sooner we can get back, right?"

"Yes, sir."

With a low rumble, the engines of the Legionnaire fired up and the space cruiser took off steadily into space. With a wistful smile, the captain let out a light sigh. No matter how many times he had done this, he always enjoyed the first few moments of embarking on a mission, no matter how dangerous it could turn out (or _would_ turn out in this case). The moments now past, he turned to the newcomers of his ship.

"Now, I trust you'll want to discuss strategy now." He indicated to the right with his hand the way to the war-room. "This way."

"Just us and the Major." Sgt. Wilkes snapped suddenly.

Misato gave the man a brief questioning glance. She had already decided that the Children didn't need to attend the briefing and was about to send them on their way for a bit. She had already noticed from the offset and from way he deliberately ignored the Children that he didn't like them. His insistence that they not join the briefly only confirmed that. Choosing to ignore his gibe, she simply answered shortly.

"That'll be fine."

"Okay. I'll have one of the crew bring them to the rec. room."

With a friendly nod to the captain, she moved toward the direction indicated, shortly followed by Wilkes. Yet neither she, nor the trio, missed how he finally decided to spare the three a short glance and mutter under his breath.

"Children…"

* * *

In one of the ship's outer corridors, Shinji sat alone beside one of the glass panes that showed the space outside. While many would be occupied in gazing out into the black sea of stars, the young tekkaman had his head bowed; his mind in turmoil. It was bad enough that he had this mission to deal with. Memories of his fall from the Space Ring still lingered and held his aversion to space, even though that wouldn't be an issue in this case. And add to the fact that the Sergeant wasn't over fond of them to say the least, and even more so, Asuka's feelings about the mission.

…which she had made so _very_ clear in the rec. room.

* * *

"_That guy's such a jerk!"_

"_Asuka, you shouldn't yell…"_

_The trio of youths was seated at the tables, each with a tray of food before them. The room was mostly empty, save for one or two crew members and/or possibly soldiers passing by to grab their own food before heading to their assignments, thus just catching only pieces of the German tekkaman's infuriated words and a few from the Third Child trying in vain to calm her down._

"_Oh, come on!" she ranted on. "Misato was even pissed of by him. Mien Gott, I wanted to kick him so badly."_

_Rei, of course, was quietly eating her meal and trying to tune out as much of Asuka as possible. As far as she was concerned, what the Sergeant thought of them mattered little. They had only to focus on their priority, and that was beating the Radham. Reasonably, such grievances like grudges and personal conflicts should be put aside until afterward._

_But Asuka wasn't interested in being reasonable…_

"_And you two…" she continued, her wrath now focusing on her two compatriots. "…just stood there and let him look at us like we were trash. No pride whatsoever."_

"_Asuka, please…"_

_But she wouldn't let up. "Seriously, we're the ones that'll have to do the work. He could at least pretend to show some appreciation."_

* * *

It was at that point that Shinji simply decided to forgo his meal and take a walk, leaving his meal uneaten. Wandering about in the few areas he had been (no need to get lost after all), he had ultimately ended up where he was and stayed put. The mission was a hassle to be sure, but his thoughts were hardly on it. The only thing it was replaying was that moment where he and his father met at their mother's grave.

Where his father…

"Just like Blade…"

Thought interrupted and shocked outright, Shinji looked up to see the ship's captain standing beside him. Off-guard and not knowing how to react, Shinji automatically stood up straight from his seat and pulled himself into a salute, the same as he would do with Misato.

"Oh, sir."

The captain let out a light chuckle and lifted a hand up. "At ease, kiddo. Besides, you're not under my command anyway."

"Oh, uh, yeah, right." Shinji replied, lowering his hand.

"I appreciate the sentiment though." Taking a seat beside Shinji, he gazed at the boy. "So what's bugging you?"

"Oh, uh." Of all the things Shinji expected, this was not one of them. Since the mission's start, no one had thought to ask him that. Misato would normally have been the one to try, but her attention was too occupied on the mission at hand for her to have a chance. Rei would generally remain silent, not speaking unless necessary. And Asuka…was Asuka. So having a stranger come up and ask was a bit unnerving. But the captain's laid-back, but honest expression could not be ignored. _'He reminds me a bit of Kaji…'_

"I was just thinking… about what…someone told me. People live on their own strength…never understanding each other."

There was a low hum of acknowledgement from the man before he answered. "Well, I wouldn't say that."

"Huh?"

"At least, not on that first part." Leaning back, Capt. Miles gazed upward in thought. "Take this ship for instance. I may be the captain, but do you honestly think this ship would go anywhere with just me on it, without a crew to support it and get things running?"

"I…guess not." Shinji replied slowly.

"Of course not; Life is pretty much the same way. We support and help each other get things going for the better. Some people may do things that seem bigger or more important than others, but overall, everyone has a part to play. That's the point of life, at least, that's how I see it."

A moment of silence passed, in which Shinji was allowed to take in the man's words. The wisdom of the captain's words made sense, but a part of him simply could not dismiss the words of his father. Feeling conflicted and after a moment of silence, the young tekkaman decided to change the subject.

"What did you mean by what you said earlier?"

"Oh that." He looked back at the boy briefly before his eyes rose again, this time in memory. "Well, I met Blade years ago, when the Radham had pretty much overrun the Earth. I was just a kid crewmate back then and we only met once briefly, but I'll never forget that sad expression; the same one you had a minute ago." His eyes lowered and then locked with Shinji's in sympathy.

"It's not easy being a tekkaman, is it? Especially being a kid."

Lowering his head, Shinji simply shook it. Not many people knew the difficulties of being a tekkaman. He was reminded of an earlier conversation he had with Kensuke.

* * *

_"You might have it pretty rough, but even still, I envy you…. A lot of the time, I wish I could be one, just once."_

_"I wish I could look at it that way."_

_"You don't?"_

_"I guess not."_

* * *

With a reassuring hand on the youth's shoulder, the captain smiled. "Don't worry about it, kiddo. Just do your best. That's all any of us can-"

And that was when the alarm rang…

* * *

_'Don't these freaks ever stick to the script?'_

On the bridge of the ship, Misato glared out the front viewer at the numerous dots in space, with Wilkes standing beside her, sharing her expression.

"Report!"

Turning about, Misato watched the captain march in, but was also surprised to see Shinji right behind him. Why he was there was a question that would have to wait. Right now, they had to deal with the current emergency.

"The Radham are leaving the asteroid belt and are mobilizing, heading right toward us!"

With a grimace, the captain barked out. "Cut engines, and ready weapon stations for immediate combat."

"Yes sir!"

The captain then turned to the two commanders behind him. "It looks like the initial plan just got shelved. Sergeant? Major?"

With a solemn nod, Wilkes moved over to a separate comm. and spoke into it. "Epsilon Unit, assemble in the launch bay and prepare for emergency sortie."

At the same time, Misato turned to the Third Child. "Shinji, find Asuka and Rei and tell them to meet me at the Blue Earth now!"

"Roger!"


End file.
